Catalin Brylla

Dr Catalin Brylla

  • Principal Academic in Film and Television
  • Weymouth House W215, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
UN SDGs:
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Biography

Dr. Catalin Brylla is Principal Lecturer in Film and TV and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice at Bournemouth University. He is also Fellow of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image and Chair of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

He researches media audiences, representation, stigma, stereotypes, prejudice and the social impact of media. His work advocates for the scholar's and media maker’s understanding of how media representations impacts on society’s perception of stigmatised groups, such as disabled people, African cultures, sex workers and women in minority communities.

Catalin is an editorial board member for the Journal of Media Practice and Education and for Screen Bodies – An Interdisciplinary Journal of Experience, Perception and Display. He is fellow of the Higher Education Academy, holds a PhD in Media and Communication from Goldsmiths, University of London, and he is external examiner for media degrees at the University of Newcastle and the University of Glasgow...

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Research

Catalin undertakes research in the areas of media audiences, social cognition, cognitive film theory, stereotypes, embodied experience, representation, ethnography, disability, gender, post-colonialism and practice-led research. His research is practice-led and impact-driven, and it aims for reducing the stigma of marginalised communities.

He has worked on a variety of research projects, including an AHRC-funded project on disability and media advocacy in Tanzania, and a BA-funded project on media engagement for wellbeing in the visually impaired community. He has also received funding from the British Academy ECR Network to run interdisciplinary research development events.

His publications include the co-edited volumes "Documentary and Disability" (with Helen Hughes) and" Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film" (with Mette Kramer), as well as his monograph "Documentary and Stereotypes: Reducing Stigma through Factual Media".

As a practice-led researcher Catalin has made several feature documentaries that represent marginalised or stigmatised social groups, aiming to bypass 'othering' stereotypes. These include "Zanzibar Soccer Dreams", portraying women's football on the predominantly Muslim island of Zanzibar, "The Terry Fragments", depicting the everyday life of a blind painter, and "June's Patchwork" about a blind writer and historian.

Catalin has supervised PhD students on a range of topics, such as “Using Media to Map the Experiences of People with Dementia” and “An Ethnography of Political Activism against Gentrification in Hackney”...

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Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDGs:

Reduced inequalities

"Reduce inequality within and among countries"

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Sustainable cities and communities

"Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable"

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Responsible consumption and production

"Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns"

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Peace, justice and strong institutions

"Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels"

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Journal Articles

Books

Chapters

  • Brylla, C.-M. and Reuben, R., 2024. Communicative Interfaces for Social Change: Two Case Studies of Youth Advocacy in Tanzania. Communications and Social Change in the 21stCentury - New Perspectives from Africa. University of Amsterdam.
  • Brylla, C. and Kramer, M., 2018. Intersecting cognitive theory and documentary film. Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film. Palgrave Macmillan, 1-17.
  • Brylla, C., 2018. A social cognition approach to stereotyping in documentary practice. Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film. 263-279.
  • Brylla, C. and Hughes, H., 2017. The bricolage of documentary and disability. Documentary and Disability. Palgrave Macmillan, 1-10.
  • Brylla, C., 2017. Spectatorship and alternative portrayals of blindness. Documentary and Disability. 61-77.
  • Brylla, C., 2017. Mediating Subjectivity through Materiality in Documentary Practice. In: Markham, T. and Rodgers, S., eds. Conditions of Mediation: Phenomenology and Media. Peter Lang.

Conferences

  • Brylla, C., 2022. Parasocial Contact in Factual Media. In: .” Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI) Conference 1 June-6 July 2022 Valencia Polytechnic University in Gandia.
  • Brylla, C., 2021. Documentary and the Reduction of Social Stigma. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI) Conference 1 June 2021-5 July 2022 online.
  • Brylla, C., 2019. Mediating the Editor-Filmmaker Habitus. In: Visible Evidence Conference 24-28 July 2019 University of Southern California.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2019. Schematic Expectations Discrepancy Between Paratext and Film Text. In: Cognitive Futures in the Arts and Humanities Conference 20-23 June 2019 University of Mainz.
  • Brylla, C., 2019. First-person Documentary and Performativity. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 12-15 June 2019 University of Hamburg.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2019. Challenging Othering Stereotypes through Alterity and Materiality. In: Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival Conference 27-29 March 2019 Watershed Bristol.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2019. Clashing Agencies – A Seeing Filmmaker Filming a Blind Painter. In: Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Conference 12 January 2019 South Bank University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Enabling, Preserving and Shifting African Womanhood through Digital Documentary. In: International Communication Association Conference 7-9 November 2018 University of Ghana, Accra.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Cognitive Approaches to Documentary Film. In: Cognitive Futures in the Art and Humanities 3-5 July 2018 University of Kent.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. A Social Cognition Approach to Stereotyping in Documentary. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 13-16 June 2018 Montana State University.
  • Brylla, C.-M. and Gilbert, R., 2018. Visual Impairment and Medical Education. In: UCL Interdisciplinary Conference on Disability 9 May 2018 University College London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Disability Activism in Film Practice. In: British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Conference 12 April 2018 University of Kent.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2017. Documentary and Disability. In: Visible Evidence Conference 12-16 August 2017 Universidad Nacional de Tres Febrero (Buenos Aires).
  • Brylla, C.-M. and Kramer, M., 2017. A Pragmatic Approach to Documentary Film. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 10-13 June 2017 Aalto University (Helsinki).
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2016. Pornography: The Musical – Performativity on the Margin. In: Sex and the Cinema Conference 6 December 2016 University of Kent.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2016. Embodied Experience, Disruptions and Failures in Documentary. In: Embodied Methodologies Symposium 3 November 2016 Royal Holloway, University of London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Cognitive Innovation in Documentary Film Practice. In: Off the Lip – Transdisciplinary Approaches to Cognitive Innovation Conference 14 September 2015 University of Plymouth.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Documentary Practice and Alterity. In: Disability and Disciplines: The International Conference on Educational, Cultural, and Disability Studies 5-6 July 2015 Liverpool Hope University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Documentary Film Praxis and Cognitive Film Theory. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 21-24 June 2015 Birkbeck, University of London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Focusing on the Ordinary: Alternative Visions of Disability. In: Rethinking Disability on Screen Symposium 6-7 May 2015 University of York.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2014. An Ethnophenomenographic Approach to Subjectivity. In: Directions and Connections across Anthropology 20 June 2014 University College London.
  • Brylla, C.-M. and Ayisi, F., 2014. Documentary Practice and the Resistance to Cultural Norms. In: Football and Communities of Resistance Conference 2 June 2014 Manchester Metropolitan University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2014. The Domestication of Disability Stereotypes through Film. In: Domestic Imaginaries: Homes in Film, Literature and Popular Culture Symposium 11 January 2014 University of Nottingham.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2013. Blindness and the Everyday: A Documentary Perspective. In: Ordinary/Everyday/Quotidian Conference 20 September 2013 University of York.
  • Brylla, C.-M. and Ayisi, F., 2013. Development through trans-national Filmmaking. In: International Development Day 20 May 2013 Welsh Development Network.
  • Brylla, C.-M. and Ayisi, F., 2011. A Cognitive-hermeneutical Approach to Audience Reception of "Sisters in Law". In: Women and Film in Africa Conference 15 November 2011 University of Westminster.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2011. The Paratext in Dexter. In: Television Narrative Symposium 25 May 2011 University of York.

Films

Artefacts

PhD Students

  • Liting Qiao. Documentary Animation in China, (In progress)
  • Martin Sharp. Chekhov’s Application of Feelings in Relation to Film Direction, (In progress)
  • Michael George. Social Movements for Change in Africa: Digital Dissent in Hashtag Activism, (In progress)
  • Philip Barber. Irreconcilable Differences: Exploring the Aesthetic Platforms of Radicalisation, Counter-Culture and Conspiracy, (In progress)
  • Darren Gormley. What are the views and experiences of people living alone with dementia and can photography enable them to create social change?
  • Toyin Agbetu. The Gentrification of Protest? An ethnography of political activism in Hackney

Profile of Teaching PG

  • Directing and Developing Story
  • Approaches to Editing
  • Production Project

Profile of Teaching UG

  • Documentary Practice
  • Digital Film
  • Concepts and Project Development
  • Independent Research Project
  • Television Principles
  • Film Theories
  • AV Essay
  • Film Analysis

Invited Lectures

  • Stereotyping, Stigma, Disability and Media, Goldsmiths, University of London, 29 Jan 2020 more
  • Freelancing in the Media Industries, Manchester Metropolitan University, 01 Jan 2011 more
  • Documentary Research and Community Filmmaking, WORLDwrite Centre, 09 May 2008 more
  • Media Literacy and Representation, Engineering College, Vienna 1220 (Austria), 19 Aug 2004 more

Grants

  • Media Engagement for Wellbeing in the Sight Loss Community: A Preliminary Model for Research and Intervention (British Academy, 01 Feb 2024). Awarded
  • Interdisciplinary Research towards Sustainable Development Goals (British Academy ECR Network, 02 Oct 2023). Awarded
  • Developing Capacity for Youth Disability Advocacy through Networking in East Africa (Arts and Humanities Research Council, 01 Feb 2023). Awarded
  • Guest Research and Lectureship at Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (German Academic Exchange Service, 01 Jan 2021). Completed
  • Zanzibar Soccer Dreams (Creative Industries Research Institute (University of South Wales), 01 Jan 2014). Awarded
  • Zanzibar Community Impact Study (University of South Wales (School of Media), 01 Jan 2013). Awarded
  • The Terry Fragments (Pilot) (University of Wales, Newport, 01 Jan 2012). Awarded

External Responsibilities

Internal Responsibilities

  • REF reviewer, Research Excellence Framework (REF)
  • Research mentor for early-career researchers, Media Production department
  • Deputy Director, Research Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice

Journal Reviewing/Refereeing

  • Studies in Documentary Film, Anonymous peer review, 01 Jan 2020
  • Screen Bodies - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Experience, Perception, and Display, Anonymous peer review, 01 Jan 2017
  • Screenworks - The Online Peer-reviewed Publication of Screen Media Practice, Open peer review, 01 Jan 2017
  • Scandinavian journal of disability research, Anonymous peer review, 01 Jan 2017
  • Journal of Embodied Research and Poetics, Open peer review, 01 Jan 2017
  • Journal of Media Practice and Education, Anonymous peer review, 01 Jan 2014

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • Knowledge Exchange among Romanian Diaspora in the UK (co-organised with Alina Dolea) (08 Jul 2022)
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roundtable at the SCSMI Conference, Valencia Polytechnic University in Gandia (09 Jun 2022)
  • Symposium “Media and Social Impact” (co-organised with Jens Eder) (12 Aug 2021-13 Aug 2021)
  • Dr Catalin Brylla on Documentary and Disability (01 Jan 2020)
  • RNIB Connect Radio: Breaking Blind Stereotypes In Life & In Media (01 Jan 2019-01 Jan 2020)
  • Public Masterclass Organisation (University of West London) (01 Jan 2015)
  • Documentary Concepts and Research (01 Jan 2014)
  • Symposium Organisation (University of Surrey) (01 Jan 2013)
  • Documentary Storytelling (01 Jan 2007)

Conference Presentations

  • Visible Evidence Conference, Mediating the Editor-Filmmaker Habitus, 01 Jul 2019, Los Angeles, CA
  • Cognitive Futures in the Arts and Humanities Conference, Schematic Expectations Discrepancy Between Paratext and Film Text, 01 Jun 2019, Mainz
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, First-person Documentary and Performativity, 01 Jun 2019, Hamburg
  • Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival Conference, Challenging Othering Stereotypes through Alterity and Materiality, 01 Mar 2019, Bristol
  • ICA Africa-Ghana Conference, Enabling, Preserving and Shifting African Womanhood through Digital Documentary, 01 Nov 2018, Accra
  • Cognitive Futures in the Art and Humanities, Cognitive Approaches to Documentary Film, 01 Jul 2018, Canterbury
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, A Social Cognition Approach to Stereotyping in Documentary, 01 Jun 2018, Montana
  • UCL Interdisciplinary Conference on Disability, Visual Impairment and Medical Education (co-presented with Rosie Gilbert), 01 May 2018, London
  • British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Conference, Disability Activism in Film Practice, 01 Apr 2018, Canterbury
  • Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Conference, Clashing Agencies – A Seeing Filmmaker Filming a Blind Painter, 01 Jan 2018, London
  • Visible Evidence Conference, Documentary and Disability, 01 Aug 2017, Buenos Aires
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, A Pragmatic Approach to Documentary Film (co-presented with Mette Kramer), 01 Jun 2017, Helsinki
  • Sex and the Cinema Conference, Pornography: The Musical – Performativity on the Margin, 01 Dec 2016, Canterbury
  • Embodied Methodologies Conference, Embodied Experience, Disruptions and Failures in Documentary, 01 Nov 2016, London
  • Off the Lip – Transdisciplinary Approaches to Cognitive Innovation Conference, Cognitive Innovation in Documentary Film Practice, 01 Sep 2015, Plymouth
  • Disability and Disciplines: The International Conference on Educational, Cultural, and Disability Studies, Documentary Practice and Alterity, 01 Jul 2015, Liverpool
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, Documentary Film Praxis and Cognitive Film Theory, 01 Jun 2015, London
  • Rethinking Disability on Screen Symposium, Focusing on the Ordinary: Alternative Visions of Disability, 01 May 2015, York
  • Directions and Connections across Anthropology, An Ethnophenomenographic Approach to Subjectivity, 01 Jun 2014, London
  • Football and Communities of Resistance Conference, Documentary Practice and the Resistance to Cultural Norms (co-presented with Florence Ayisi), 01 Jun 2014, Manchester
  • Domestic Imaginaries: Homes in Film, Literature and Popular Culture Symposium, The Domestication of Disability Stereotypes through Film, 01 Jan 2014, Nottingham
  • Ordinary/Everyday/Quotidian Conference, Blindness and the Everyday: A Documentary Perspective, 01 Sep 2013, York
  • International Development Day, Development through trans-national Filmmaking (co-presented with Florence Ayisi), 01 May 2013, Llandrindod Wells
  • Women and Film in Africa Conference, A Cognitive-hermeneutical Approach to Audience Reception of Sisters in Law (co-presented with Florence Ayisi), 01 Nov 2011, London
  • Television Narrative Symposium, The Paratext in Dexter, 01 May 2011, York

Consultancy Activities

  • Storytelling and Postproduction, consultancy. WORLDwrite Centre

Qualifications

  • PhD in Media and Communications (Goldsmiths, University of London, 2016)
  • MA in Documentary by Practice (Royal Holloway - University of London, 2004)
  • BA (Hons) in Film and Video (1st class) (University of Wales, Newport, 2003)

Honours

  • AHRC Research in Film Award (International Development: Mobilising Global Voices) for feature documentary film "Zanzibar Soccer Dreams" - Finalist (AHRC, 2017)

Memberships

  • British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), Member,
  • Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA), Member,
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI), Fellow,
  • The Higher Education Academy, Fellow,

Social Media Links

External Media and Press