Ellie Smith

Research

My research explores the psychology of lesbian and queer women in contemporary French and Hollywood film. Recruiting and analysing ‘positive psychology’ frameworks alongside queer and other critical theory, my work aims to shed light on portrayals of queer psychology beyond the common narratives of pathology and mental suffering. I am currently writing on the possibility of anti-neoliberal resilience in Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding (2024).

Research Interests

More broadly I am interested in lesbian film, television and media in the contemporary period. My previous work has examined the spatial queerness of Parisian suburbs in Naissance des pieuvres/Water Lillies (Céline Sciamma, 2007), and the role of art in La Vie d’Adèle/Blue is the Warmest Colour (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2014) and Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, 2023).

Publications

• Contribution to a French dictionary on feminism in cinema led by Female Filmmakers and Feminism in the Media (FEMME), forthcoming.
• ‘“Des plafonds dans les yeux”: representing the New Town in Naissance des pieuvres (Céline Sciamma, 2007)’, French Screen Studies, 23:2–3 (2023), pp. 133-144.

Conferences

• ‘Queering the Red Flag: Narratives of Acceptable Lesbian Relationships in The Ultimatum: Queer Love’, Spotting Red Flags Symposium, King’s College London, 9 June 2025, with Polina Zelmanova.
• ‘“Cambiar el dolor en oro”: Transnational Queer Strength in Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez (2024)’, BAFTSS Conference 2025, University of Warwick, 26-28 March 2025.
• ‘“Des plafonds dans les yeux”: representing the New Town in Naissance des pieuvres (Céline Sciamma, 2007)’, Doing Women's Film and Television History VI and 13^th Annual Contemporary Directors Symposium, University of Sussex, June 2023 and December 2020 respectively.

Teaching

2025/26

University of Warwick

• FR201 Translation

2023/24

Université Côte d’Azur

• LLCE1 Textes et fictions : littérature britannique et américain
• LLCE1 Traduction : thème et version
• LLCE1 Expression orale
• LLCE2 Grammaire et linguistique
• LLCE3 Langue et linguistique
• LEA1 Langues, sociétés, débats
• LEA2 Langue de spécialité
• LEA3 Lecture de presse

Scholarships and Awards

• Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, AHRC Doctoral Award, 2024–2028
• BAFTSS Richard Dyer Essay Prize for my dissertation chapter, 'Limiting Lesbianism: Conventions and the Frame', 2023
• School of Modern Languages and Cultures Departmental MA Scholarship, 2019

Qualifications

• MA for Research in French and Francophone Studies
• BA French Studies
• Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française (DALF) C1