Critical Approaches to the History of East and Southeast Asian Contributions in the British Screen Industry

This Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) seeks a researcher/practitioner to undertake PhD research on East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) contributions to British film and television. The project focuses on organisational and production practices, individual lived experiences, institutional initiatives and creative activism that addresses invisibility and marginalisation. Through placement, training and mentorship by the British Film Institute (BFI) and British East Asians in Theatre and Screen Industries (BEATS), this project generates an unparallelled opportunity to analyse the contributions of the ESEA community to British screen through researching industrial practices, the roles of public media organisations and broadcasters, and the experiences of ESEA creatives. The research will explore how institutionalised diversity and discourses around ESEA groups contribute to under-representation, how on- and off-screen representation has engendered discursive constructions of these minoritized groups, and what policy implications exist for ensuring sustainable contributions by ESEA creatives. The successful candidate will be based in the Department of Cultural, Media and Creative Industries and supervised by Dr Wing-Fai Leung and Professor Jeanette Steemers.