LEICESTER BECOMES NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FILM AND TV HISTORY

De Montfort University is to launch the Cinema And Television History (CATH) Research Centre at De Montfort University this week (Thursday 4 March).

The Centre (see http://www.dmu.ac.uk/cath) will showcase world class research in the subject and makes Leicester a national focus for media expertise.

The University’s expertise in film and TV is recognised in the world of academic research* and the CATH Research Centre will incorporate work done by academics from the DMU’s Department of Media, Film and Journalism who have already established international reputations for ground-breaking work.

The Centre has a programme scheduled for coming months including a unique British horror film conference and festival on 4 and 5 March.

In partnership with Phoenix Square in Leicester, Britain’s newest cinema and digital media centre, the CATH Research Centre will host the conference called Bloodlines; British Horror Past and Present, showing films and staging discussions with film professionals and experts.

The programme will include a rare appearance by Pete Walker, legendary cult film director and a screening of his Frightmare film of 1975, as well a test screening of Johannes Roberts’ new film F which is scheduled for public release later this year.

For more information about the events including 24 papers by a host of film academics, or to book a place, see: http://www.phoenix.org.uk  or telephone 0116 2422800.

The study of British cinema and television forms the core focus for the Centre but also embraces research into European cinema and Hollywood history.

CATH Director Steve Chibnall, Professor of British Cinema, at DMU, said: “The recent opening of Phoenix Square film and digital media centre as well as the new CATH research Centre and the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) make Leicester a key national centre for British cinema history.

“The term ‘history’ does not imply that the Centre is interested purely in old films and TV shows, but instead is used in a way common among film scholars to mean scholarship in issues surrounding TV and film past and present including contemporary policy, political economy and cultural and social impact.”

DMU also has the Centre for Adaptations, for the study of literary adaptations, which boasts renowned screen adaptor Andrew Davies as a Visiting Professor and the Oxford scholarly journal Adaptations, thus further enhancing the research prestige of DMU and Leicester itself as a focus for international screen expertise. See: www.dmu.ac.uk/adaptations 

DMU staff who are members of the CATH Centre have played a prominent role in the development of media history in the UK, and include:

·    Professor Robert Murphy is editor of the BFI’s British Cinema Book (now in its third edition) and Directors in British and Irish Cinema (2006)

·    Professor Barry Jordan is lead editor UK for Studies in Hispanic Cinemas.

·    Dr. Helen Wood is Associate Editor, European Journal of Cultural Studies.

·    Professor Tim O’Sullivan is a member of the MeCSSA executive.  (so, it should be MeCCSA)

·    Professor Steve Chibnall is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of British Cinema and Television and, with Dr. Ian Hunter, edits the successful Routledge British Popular Cinema book series.

In April the CATH Research Centre in collaboration with the British Film Institute and British Silents will also present the 13th British Silent Film Festival at Phoenix Square Leicester, bringing the festival home as the inaugural silent film festival was held at the original Phoenix arts centre in Leicester in 1998.

For further information and bookings see: or call 0116 2422800.

A third event celebrating 100 years of film exhibition will be hosted by the CATH Centre in July: From Silent Screen to Digital Screen.

ENDS

Notes to editors

*In judging more than 35 per cent of DMU’s Department of Media, Film and Journalism’s outputs as ‘world-leading (4*) the RAE 2008 panel commented; ‘Through its publications, the department has a substantial presence and reputation, particularly in the study of British cinema and television.’

For more information, please contact DMU’s Press Office on 0116 257 7021 or news@dmu.ac.uk . De Montfort University’s Press Office is now on Twitter. Follow us at www.twitter.com/dmupressoffice . If you would like to be notified whenever a new story about the University is published, sign up to the RSS feed on our Twitter home page.

About Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Based in the heart of Leicester’s emerging  Cultural Quarter, Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media houses state of the art cinemas, digital gallery spaces, interactive cafe bar and film production facilities with editing suites - capable of hosting festivals, seminars & conferences. This unique space is set to be a hub of activity for the region. It is an educational charity with a remit to enhance moving image and new media work.