B-Film
B-Film: The Birmingham Centre for Film Studies is an interdisciplinary and international research network at the University of Birmingham that is wholly inclusive of all scholars working in film-related areas of research.
B-Film is currently directed by Dr Christina Wilkins who oversees the annual programme of events. B-Film brings together a range of research expertise, both theoretical and practice-based. Its annual programme of events showcase the breadth of expertise, including scholarship ranging from PGRs to invited speakers. These events are linked to externally-funded research projects, and offer contributions to film culture on an academic, public, local and global scale. Membership and expertise is drawn primarily from the departments of Film and Creative Writing and Modern Languages but is also wholly inclusive and welcomes scholars and postgraduates from all academic areas. B-Film is committed to placing film-related research activity at the University of Birmingham within the context of European, North American and World territories through interdepartmental and inter-institutional strategic collaborations that enhance the University’s global reputation. It was originally founded and run by Professor Rob Stone and Dr Andrew Watts.
B-Film provides a solid basis and excellent collaborative initiatives for building networks and groupings that enable researchers to work with regional and national higher education institutions, local and national organisations and policy-makers, as well as academic, cultural, popular and industrial partners worldwide.
B-Film is ideally placed to respond to the changing funding strategies of various research bodies. It provides a first-stop source for information on the research supervision available at the University of Birmingham and a showcase for the high-profile range of publications produced by its members.
Our annual B-Film events include the Annual Lecture, Creative Practice Colloquium, the LGBT+ History Month Event (with the B Film Queer Film series), Disability History Month event, Black History Month event, the Work-in-Progress series, and our Adaptation Day.
Members
Members
- Dr Christina Wilkins, Director
Academic staff
- Professor Lisa Downing , Professor of French Discourses of Sexuality
- Dr Elystan Griffiths , Reader in Modern Languages
- Professor Louise Hardwick , Professor of Francophone Studies and World Literature
- Professor Kate Ince , Professor of French and Visual Studies
- Professor Russell Jackson , Emeritus Professor of Drama
- Dr Richard Langley , Associate Professor in Film
- Dr Catherine Lester, Associate Professor in Film and Television
- Dr Carleigh Morgan, Assistant Professor in Film
- Dr Chris Nunn, Assistant Professor of Film (Education Focussed)
- Dr Natalia (Natasha) Rulyova , Associate Professor in Russian
- Dr Alaina Schempp, Lecturer in Film
- Professor Diana Spencer , Dean of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences
- Professor James Walters , Professor of Screen Aesthetics and Criticism
- Dr Andrew Watts, Reader in French Studies
Doctoral researchers
B-Film offers a dynamic research environment for postgraduates, with many opportunities to benefit from the college-wide research expertise of academics and to participate in the research events that B-Film holds on campus and throughout the city of Birmingham in such venues as The Electric Cinema, the Midlands Arts Centre and the Mockingbird Theatre. Research students on the MA by research, PhD or Audio-Visual PhD are automatically members of B-Film and encouraged and enabled to run events such as workshops and screenings related to their own research.
B-Film has a vibrant postgraduate community, carrying out research in a broad range of areas. Profiles of some of our current doctoral researchers and details of their research are listed below:
- Nina Jones
- Jemma Saunders
- Ella Wright
- Rich Matthews
- Leo Wang
- Sazkia Anggraini
- Fady Atallah
- Mara Etienne-Manley
- Julie Garvey-Welch
- Michael Hennesy
- Xinyi Ma
- Xanthe Pajarillo
- Leo Wang
- Julien Mery
- Jessica Parker
- Karolina Ginalska
- Joanne Holland
Research outputs
Research outputs
B-Film is committed to developing high profile, collaborative research projects with external partners.
Since the network’s inception, we have completed a two-year AHRC project on Screening European Heritage with the Centre for World Cinemas at the University of Leeds, staged the Cine-Excess conference and film festival 'Cine-Excess VII: European Erotic Cinema: Identity, Desire and Disgust', and organised and held the 2023 Association of Adaptation Studies conference. Our members have worked with the Flatpack Film Festival on a range of events, such as an exhibition and talks.
In addition to collaborative projects, B-Film members have been actively publishing on a wide-range of subjects. Below is a selection of books on film, television and the moving image authored or edited by members of B-Film. For a full list of publications, including journal articles and book chapters, please see the individual staff profiles in the members section.
- Horror Films for Children, Catherine Lester
- Television and Repetition, James Walters
- Embodying Adaptation, Christina Wilkins
- The Cinema of Mia Hansen-Løve: candour and vulnerability, Kate Ince
Contact B-Film
Contact B-Film
To discuss research collaborations, please contact Dr Christina Wilkins: c.wilkins@bham.ac.uk
For an informal chat about research degrees in Film studies at the University of Birmingham, to get further information or to enquire about applying, please contact: Dr Catherine Lester: c.lester@bham.ac.uk
B-Film: The Birmingham Centre for Film Studies
College of Arts and Law
The University of Birmingham
B15 2TT, UK