Professor Shohini Chaudhuri
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Email
schaudh@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 872591
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Location
5NW.6.18, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Shohini Chaudhuri's main research and teaching area is World Cinema, with particular interests in film and human rights, film-philosophy, feminist and postcolonial theory. Her work develops transnational and comparative frameworks to explore links between different film cultures. She has written four books - Crisis Cinema in the Middle East: Creativity and Constraint in Iran and the Arab World (2022), Cinema of the Dark Side: Atrocity and the Ethics of Film Spectatorship (2014), Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia (2005) and Feminist Film Theorists (2006). Her article (co-authored with Howard Finn) on New Iranian Cinema has been published in Screen and reprinted in two anthologies, Screening World Cinema, ed. Catherine Grant and Annette Kuhn (2006) and Gender, Genre, Race, and World Cinema, ed. Julie Codell (2007). She has also published articles in the journals Camera Obscura, Strategies: A Journal of Theory, Culture and Politics, South Asian Popular Culture, and Screening the Past, as well as essays in numerous edited collections, such as Global Humanitarianism and Media Culture, ed. Michael Lawrence and Rachel Tavernor (2018), The Blackwell Companion to Wong Kar-wai, ed. Martha Nochimson (2016) and Disappearing War: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cinema and Erasure in the Post-9/11 World, ed. Christina Hellmich and Lisa Purse (2017). Her most recent book is the result of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for a project titled Creativity and Constraint: Contemporary Cinema in Iran and the Arab World. A film activist as well as educator, Shohini has researched and curated film programmes for The Mosaic Rooms, London, and the Art Exchange, University of Essex, and has organized public film events for the NGO Amnesty International and other cultural institutions. Additional information: She would particularly welcome applications for Ph.D. theses on the intersecting areas of film, human rights, and critical and cultural theory.
Qualifications
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BA Oxford
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MA London
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PhD London
Research and professional activities
Research interests
notions of world cinema, intercultural and transnational cinema
film and human rights
gender and feminist theory
film theory and affect
Conferences and presentations
Practices of Care in Crisis Cinema (Keynote)
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) 2023, University of Oslo, Norway, 15/6/2023
Persian Cinema Near and Far: Creativity and Controversy
Invited presentation, Persian Film Festival, Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 8/12/2019
Alternative Spaces of Free Expression
The Paradox of Creative Constraints – a public symposium, The Mosaic Rooms, London, United Kingdom, 7/9/2019
Visible and Invisible: Screening Violence from the Middle East
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Screening Violence: Affect, Responsibility, Accountability, The Storey, Lancaster, United Kingdom, 4/4/2019
Iranian cinema
Invited presentation, The Burning Question, 8/3/2019
Cinema of Constraints: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Filmmaking from and about the Arab World and Iran
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, MeCCSA Annual Conference 2019 - Continuity and Change – Media, Communications and Politics, Stirling, United Kingdom, 10/1/2019
'Iraq War Home Movies: Abbas Fahdel's Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)'
Invited presentation, Histories of Arab Documentary, Munich, Germany, 27/10/2017
Five Broken Cameras Film screening and Q&A with the director
Invited presentation, London, United Kingdom, 5/7/2017
'The Alterity of the Image: The Distant Spectator and Films about the Syrian Revolution and War'
Invited presentation, WORLD CINEMA AND COSMOPOLITICS RESEARCH GROUP, Durham, United Kingdom, 7/6/2017
'The Alterity of the Image: The Distant Spectator and Films about the Syrian Revolution and War' (Plenary)
Invited presentation, Cinematic Ethics and Globalization, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2/6/2017
'Nine Cinematic Devices for Staging (In)visible War and the (Vanishing) Colonial Present'
Invited presentation, English Colloquium, Brighton, United Kingdom, 28/9/2016
'From the Margins to the Mainstream: How the Zombie, a Figure of Colonial Enslavement, Came to Embody Threats to First World Populations' (Plenary), Zombies between (Pop-)Culture and (Visual) Politics, University of Konstanz, April 2016.
Invited presentation, Konstanz, Germany, 4/4/2016
Queens of Syria and Syrian Short Films, screenings and Q&A; As accompanying The Movement of the People exhibition, Art Exchange, University of Essex, October-November 2016.
Colchester, United Kingdom, 2016
Crisis and Creativity: A Season of Contemporary Films from and about the Arab World, a public programme of film screenings and talks curated for The Mosaic Rooms, May-June 2016.
2016
Thinkers for our Time: Sigmund Freud
Invited presentation, Panel Discussion, London, United Kingdom, 25/11/2015
'Film as Art and Activism: the Case of Recent Palestine Solidarity Cinema'
Invited presentation, Film and Screen Studies Research Seminar, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 18/11/2015
'Ethics of Cross-border Spectatorship'
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Crossing Borders, Traversing Narratives, St Andrews, United Kingdom, 11/2/2015
'Cinema, News Media and Perception Management of the Gaza Conflicts', Global Humanitarianism and Media Culture, University of Sussex, February 2015.
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Brighton, United Kingdom, 8/2/2015
'Freedom and Expression Symposium', Free Word Centre, London, July 2015.
London, United Kingdom, 2015
'Concerning Violence', Film screening and panel discussion, part of the programme Documenting Nazi Atrocities: Early Films on the Liberation of the Camps, Goethe-Institut, London, June 2015.
London, United Kingdom, 2015
'Where Should the Birds Fly', Film screening and panel discussion, Amnesty International UK, London, April 2015.
London, United Kingdom, 2015
'The Art of Disappearance: Transnational Cinema, Multidirectional Memory and Films about Political Violence'
Invited presentation, Perspectives on Transnational Film/Media Studies, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 11/5/2014
Humanities in Human Rights
Invited presentation, AHRC Skills Initiative, Norwich, United Kingdom, 10/2013
Recent conference papers include:
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Human Rights and the Arts (HU932)
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Approaches to Film and Media (LT121)
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World Cinema (LT207)
Current supervision
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Film Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 10/2/2020
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 3/4/2019
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 7/6/2018
Degree subject: Film Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 7/7/2017
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 29/6/2016
Degree subject: Film Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 3/7/2014
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 12/6/2013
Publications
Journal articles (12)
Chaudhuri, S., (2024). Filmmakers pull it out of the bag. Index on Censorship. 53 (2), 55-57
Chaudhuri, S., (2023). Soundtracks of Our Lives: Music-Making and Musicians in MENA Cinema. Regards: Revue des arts du spectacle (30), 15-153
Rastegar, K. and Chaudhuri, S., (2023). Opening a Space for the Audience: A Dialogue with Kamran Rastegar about Composing MENA Cinema Soundtracks. Regards Revue des arts du spectacle. 30, 91-114
Eid, R. and Chaudhuri, S., (2023). Ways of Listening: An Interview with Sound Designer Rana Eid. Regards Revue des arts du spectacle. 30, 115-133
Chaudhuri, S., (2018). The Alterity of the Image: the Distant Spectator and Films about the Syrian Revolution and War. Transnational Cinemas. 9 (1), 46-46
Chaudhuri, S., Finn, H. and Toprak, T., (2016). Açık İmge: Şiirsel Gerçekçilik ve Yeni İran Sineması. Sine/Cine: Sinema Araştırmaları Dergisi/Journal of Film Studies. 7 (1), 139-161
Chaudhuri, S., (2013). Documenting The Dark Side: Torture and The 'War On Terror' in Zero Dark Thirty, Taxi To The Dark Side, and Standard Operating Procedure. Screening the Past. 37
Chaudhuri, S. and Clayton, S., (2012). Storytelling in Bhutanese cinema: Research context and case study of a film in development. Journal of Screenwriting. 3 (2), 197-214
Chaudhuri, S., (2009). Snake charmers and child brides: Deepa Mehta's Water, 'exotic' representation, and the cross-cultural spectatorship of South Asian migrant cinema. South Asian Popular Culture. 7 (1), 7-20
Chaudhuri, S. and Finn, H., (2003). The open image: poetic realism and the New Iranian Cinema. Screen. 44 (1), 38-57
Chaudhuri, S., (2001). Witnessing Death: Ballard's and Cronenberg's Crash. Strategies: Journal of Theory, Culture & Politics. 14 (1), 63-75
Chaudhuri, S., (1997). Visit of the Body Snatchers: Alien Invasion Themes in Vampire Narratives. Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies. 14 (1-2), 180-198
Books (4)
Chaudhuri, S., (2022). Crisis cinema in the Middle East: Creativity and constraint in Iran and the Arab world. 1350190519. 9781350190511
Chaudhuri, S., (2014). Cinema of the dark side: Atrocity and the ethics of film spectatorship. Edinburgh University Press. 978-1474400428
Chaudhuri, S., (2006). Feminist Film Theorists Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis, Barbara Creed. Routledge. 1134346670. 978-0415324328
Chaudhuri, S., (2005). Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. 9780748617999
Book chapters (9)
Chaudhuri, S., (2022). ‘Iraq War Home Movies: Abbas Fahdel’s Long Format, Slow Documentary Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)’. In: Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa. Editors: Shafik, V., . The American University of Cairo Press. 457- 473. 9789774169588
Chaudhuri, S., (2018). 'Telegenically dead Palestinians': Cinema, news media and perception management of the Gaza conflicts. In: Global Humanitarianism and Media Culture. Editors: Lawrence, M. and Tavernor, R., . Manchester University Press. 103- 121. 9781526117298
Chaudhuri, S., (2017). Nine cinematic devices for staging (in)visible war and the (vanishing) colonial present. In: Disappearing War Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cinema and Erasure in the Post-9/11 World. Editors: Hellmich, C. and Purse, L., . Edinburgh University Press. 9781474416566
Chaudhuri, S., (2016). Color Design in Wong Kar-wai's Cinema. In: A Companion to Wong Kar-wai. Editors: Nochimson, MP., . Wiley-Blackwell. 153- 181. 1-118-42424-7. 978-1-118-42424-7
Chaudhuri, S. and Clayton, S., (2013). Clouds of Unknowing: Buddhism and Bhutanese Cinema. In: Storytelling in World Cinemas: Contexts. Editors: Khatib, L., . Wallflower. 157- 171. 9780231163361
Chaudhuri, S., (2013). Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In: Film Analysis: A Norton Reader (Second edition). Editors: Geiger, J. and Rutsky, RL., . W W Norton. 9780393923247
Chaudhuri, S., (2011). Unpeople: Postcolonial reflections on terror, torture and detention in Children Of Men. In: Postcolonial Cinema Studies. Editors: Ponzanesi, S. and Waller, M., . Routledge. 191- 204. 978-0415782289
Chaudhuri, S. and Finn, H., (2006). The Open Image: Poetic Realism and the New Iranian Cinema. In: Screening World Cinema: A Screen Reader. Editors: Grant, C. and Kuhn, A., . Routledge. 163- 181. 9780415384285
Chaudhuri, S., (2005). Dogma brothers: Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. In: New Punk Cinema. Editors: Rombes, N., . Edinburgh University Press. 153- 167. 978-0748620357
Conferences (2)
Chaudhuri, S., MeCCSA Annual Conference 2019 Continuity and Change– Media, Communications and Politics
Chaudhuri, S., (2020). Cinema of Constraints: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Filmmaking from and about the Arab World and Iran
Grants and funding
2019
Creativity and Constraint: Contemporary Cinema in Iran and the Arab World
Leverhulme Trust
Symposium: The Paradox of Creative Constraints
University of Essex (GCRF)
2015
Crisis and Creativity: A Season of Contemporary Films from and about the Arab World
Economic & Social Research Council
