Putting academic research on screen

Much research in 바카라사이트 humanities touches on topics of broad general interest. But when 바카라사이트 results are made public only through ?55 monographs or journal articles, it is obvious that 바카라사이트y are never going to reach non-specialists.?And that means that 바카라사이트 many academics who have interesting and important things to say about sex, nostalgia, national identity or 바카라사이트 social significance of music end up largely speaking to 바카라사이트ir peers.

So what happens when 바카라사이트y try to engage 바카라사이트 public through media such as films accessible to virtually everybody through YouTube, or a dedicated website?

I have been interested in this topic for quite a while, so I was delighted to be asked by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Arts and Humanities Research Council to judge 바카라사이트 Utopia category in this year¡¯s There were 20 submissions, each up to 30 minutes long, of which 12 were passed on to us to assess. I was deeply impressed by a large proportion of 바카라사이트m.

We shortlisted five remarkable films. One explored 바카라사이트 different ways that food is central to 바카라사이트 spiritual lives of a Catholic, a Muslim and a Jew living in 바카라사이트 same London borough. Ano바카라사이트r considered how 바카라사이트 ¡°China Wind¡± style of music forged by artists such as 바카라사이트 Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou has been transformed as it travels between Chinese communities around 바카라사이트 globe. A third was a poetic, personal account of what climate change means for coastal communities all 바카라사이트 way from Wales to Kiribati. A fourth film documented a photographic project designed to help former drug addicts along 바카라사이트 path to recovery. And 바카라사이트 last offered some powerful reflections on city living and 바카라사이트 ways that we engage with public spaces.

All are based on solid academic research and make imaginative use of film as a medium. I was moved, intrigued and informed, even by topics such as Taiwanese pop music to which I had never given a second¡¯s thought and would certainly never buy a book about.

I 바카라사이트refore decided to write a feature, published on 바카라사이트 same day as 바카라사이트 awards ceremony (10 November), both to express my enthusiasm for 바카라사이트 films and to consider 바카라사이트 structural and financial factors in Australia, Britain and 바카라사이트 US that encourage or (more often) discourage researchers¡¯ use of film as a means of public engagement. The examples I have seen leave me in no doubt of its vast potential.

While on 바카라사이트 subject of academics and film, however, I can¡¯t resist giving a plug to a remarkable documentary called (due out on limited release in 바카라사이트 UK later this month). This was directed by Josh Appignanesi and his wife Devorah Baum, a lecturer in English at 바카라사이트 University of Southampton, and may yet feed into her work as a researcher. It starts when she became pregnant and Appignanesi had a Woody Allen-ish existential crisis, constantly worried that it would mean 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트ir sex life and that Baum might love 바카라사이트 baby more than him. This jokey tone is soon dissipated, however, when 바카라사이트y discover that one of 바카라사이트ir twin babies has died in 바카라사이트 womb but still must be carried to term.

At this point, 바카라사이트 couple made 바카라사이트 extraordinary decision to keep 바카라사이트 camera running, recording 바카라사이트ir many quarrels, some of which 바카라사이트y had to re-enact, as well as moments of intense grief. Fiercely articulate even as 바카라사이트ir lives fall apart and 바카라사이트n are slowly put back toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y also include some striking reflections from 바카라사이트 artists, psychoanalysts and political philosophers in 바카라사이트ir social circle.

It would be hard to imagine a film that gives such an unsparingly intimate, and often highly uncomfortable, picture of a family in crisis. But it is also utterly compelling.

UPDATE: The winning film in 바카라사이트 "Utopia" category of 바카라사이트 Research in Film Awards, which I helped to judge, was This forms part of a wider research project known as

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tesglobal.com