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

Conferences

  • Brylla, C., 2022. Parasocial Contact in Factual Media. In: .” Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI) Conference 01/06/2022 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 01/06/2021 online.
  • Brylla, C., 2019. Mediating the Editor-Filmmaker Habitus. In: Visible Evidence Conference 24/07/2019 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 20/06/2019 University of Mainz.
  • Brylla, C., 2019. First-person Documentary and Performativity. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 12/06/2019 University of Hamburg.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2019. Challenging Othering Stereotypes through Alterity and Materiality. In: Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival Conference 27/03/2019 Watershed Bristol.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2019. Clashing Agencies – A Seeing Filmmaker Filming a Blind Painter. In: Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Conference 12/01/2019 South Bank University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Enabling, Preserving and Shifting African Womanhood through Digital Documentary. In: International Communication Association Conference 07/11/2018 University of Ghana, Accra.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Cognitive Approaches to Documentary Film. In: Cognitive Futures in the Art and Humanities 03/07/2018 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 13/06/2018 Montana State University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., Gilbert, R., 2018. Visual Impairment and Medical Education. In: UCL Interdisciplinary Conference on Disability 09/05/2018 University College London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2018. Disability Activism in Film Practice. In: British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Conference 12/04/2018 University of Kent.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2017. Documentary and Disability. In: Visible Evidence Conference 12/08/2017 Universidad Nacional de Tres Febrero (Buenos Aires).
  • Brylla, C.-M., Kramer, M., 2017. A Pragmatic Approach to Documentary Film. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 10/06/2017 Aalto University (Helsinki).
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2016. Pornography: The Musical – Performativity on the Margin. In: Sex and the Cinema Conference 06/12/2016 University of Kent.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2016. Embodied Experience, Disruptions and Failures in Documentary. In: Embodied Methodologies Symposium 03/11/2016 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 14/09/2015 University of Plymouth.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Documentary Practice and Alterity. In: Disability and Disciplines: The International Conference on Educational, Cultural, and Disability Studies 05/07/2015 Liverpool Hope University.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Documentary Film Praxis and Cognitive Film Theory. In: Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference 21/06/2015 Birkbeck, University of London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2015. Focusing on the Ordinary: Alternative Visions of Disability. In: Rethinking Disability on Screen Symposium 06/05/2015 University of York.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2014. An Ethnophenomenographic Approach to Subjectivity. In: Directions and Connections across Anthropology 20/06/2014 University College London.
  • Brylla, C.-M., Ayisi, F., 2014. Documentary Practice and the Resistance to Cultural Norms. In: Football and Communities of Resistance Conference 02/06/2014 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 11/01/2014 University of Nottingham.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2013. Blindness and the Everyday: A Documentary Perspective. In: Ordinary/Everyday/Quotidian Conference 20/09/2013 University of York.
  • Brylla, C.-M., Ayisi, F., 2013. Development through trans-national Filmmaking. In: International Development Day 20/05/2013 Welsh Development Network.
  • Brylla, C.-M., Ayisi, F., 2011. A Cognitive-hermeneutical Approach to Audience Reception of "Sisters in Law". In: Women and Film in Africa Conference 15/11/2011 University of Westminster.
  • Brylla, C.-M., 2011. The Paratext in Dexter. In: Television Narrative Symposium 25/05/2011 University of York.

Films

Artefacts

PhD Students

  • Philip Barber. Irreconcilable Differences: Exploring the Aesthetic Platforms of Radicalisation, Counter-Culture and Conspiracy, (In progress)
  • Liting Qiao. Documentary Animation in China, (In progress)
  • Michael George. Social Movements for Change in Africa: Digital Dissent in Hashtag Activism, (In progress)
  • Martin Sharp. Chekhov’s Application of Feelings in Relation to Film Direction, (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
  • 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

  • Reducing Disability Stigma through Media Representations in Kenya (Arts and Humanities Research Council, 01 Oct 2025). Awarded
  • 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)). Awarded
  • Zanzibar Community Impact Study (University of South Wales (School of Media)). Awarded
  • The Terry Fragments (Pilot) (University of Wales, Newport). 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
  • Journal of Media Practice and Education, Anonymous peer review
  • Screen Bodies - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Experience, Perception, and Display, Anonymous peer review
  • Screenworks - The Online Peer-reviewed Publication of Screen Media Practice, Open peer review
  • Scandinavian journal of disability research, Anonymous peer review
  • Journal of Embodied Research and Poetics, Open peer review

Conference Presentations

  • Visible Evidence Conference, Los Angeles, CA
  • Cognitive Futures in the Arts and Humanities Conference, Mainz
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, Hamburg
  • Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival Conference, Bristol
  • ICA Africa-Ghana Conference, Accra
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, Montana
  • Cognitive Futures in the Art and Humanities, Canterbury
  • UCL Interdisciplinary Conference on Disability, London
  • British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Conference, Canterbury
  • Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Conference, London
  • Visible Evidence Conference, Buenos Aires
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, Helsinki
  • Sex and the Cinema Conference, Canterbury
  • Embodied Methodologies Conference, London
  • Off the Lip – Transdisciplinary Approaches to Cognitive Innovation Conference, Plymouth
  • Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image Conference, London
  • Disability and Disciplines: The International Conference on Educational, Cultural, and Disability Studies, Liverpool
  • Rethinking Disability on Screen Symposium, York
  • Directions and Connections across Anthropology, London
  • Football and Communities of Resistance Conference, Manchester
  • Domestic Imaginaries: Homes in Film, Literature and Popular Culture Symposium, Nottingham
  • Ordinary/Everyday/Quotidian Conference, York
  • International Development Day, Llandrindod Wells
  • Women and Film in Africa Conference, London
  • Television Narrative Symposium, 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

  • The Higher Education Academy, Fellow,
  • 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,

Social Media Links

External Media and Press

The data on this page was last updated at 22:00 on February 13, 2026.