The AHRC Research Network
Migrant and Diasporic Cinema in Contemporary Europe is a Research Network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of the Diasporas, Migration and Identities Programme. The work of the Network, information about relevant films and resources and forthcoming events and publications are documented on this website.
The Network examines how films of migrant and diasporic filmmakers have redefined our understanding of European identity/ies as constructed and narrated in European national cinemas. By adopting a comparative perspective in the search for the commonalities and differences between (post-)migrant cinemas across different European countries, the Network endeavours to transcend the borders and limitations of an analytical framework which privileges the concept of discrete national cinemas.
What is the Network?
Under the leadership of Daniela Berghahn at Royal Holloway, University of London (Project Leader and Coordinator) and Claudia Sternberg at the University of Leeds (Project Coordinator) the Network brings together researchers who, in consultation with filmmakers, representatives from the film and media industry and the cultural sector, explore the evolution of migrant and diasporic cinemas in contemporary Europe over the past twenty-five years.
The Network takes a comparative approach focusing not only on different national contexts but also on different genres and narrative traditions in migrant and diasporic cinema. A range of case studies will provide a sufficiently broad basis to develop criteria that will allow us to map the relationalities and analogies between different manifestations of migrant and diasporic cinemas in contemporary Europe.
The Network engages with the non-academic community by drawing on the expertise of filmmakers and representatives from the cultural sector and the film and media industries who are consulted on questions of film funding, production, distribution and policy making and who are contributing to a series of conferences and events.
Through a series of conferences, film screenings introduced by Network Participants or filmmakers and through the learning resources and information provided on this website, the Network aims to make its research findings and activities accessible beyond the confines of the academic community.