News

The British Film Institute has released a momentus new restoration of Abel Gance's masterpiece Napoleon (1927) on Blu-ray/DVD, and Department Associate Fellow Dr. Paul Cuff, who is a world-leading expert on the film, features heavily in the extras: including an essay on the film, an interview with composer Carl Davis, and a full-length audio commentary (which at 332 minutes, we believe may be a record for a single film).

Find out more about the release here: http://shop.bfi.org.uk/napoleon-blu-ray.html#.WGPX7FPyjBW

On November 16th Dr. Helen Wheatley gave an invited research seminar at the University of Sussex, on the representation of death and the dead on television. The abstract is below:

Television Death

This paper examines the representation of death and the dead on television. In doing so, it moves off from work on death on film to think about the ways in which television mediates death for its viewers, providing encounters with death which may be disturbing or reassuring, offering viewers the frisson of an engagement with our own mortality or holding death at a safe distance from everyday life. I will explore a series of ‘death genres’ on television, including the ‘human body’ documentary, the anatomy spectacular, and televisual encounters with assisted dying during this paper.

Oliver Gray, a Warwick BA Film and Literature graduate, class of 2004, will be introducing his new film at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, on November 10th. More information here

Dr. Helen Wheatley was featured on the 5.00pm and 10.00pm BBC News on Monday November 1st, speaking about women's roles in early tv production, in relation to the anniversary of the TV Service.

The Dept. of Film and Television Studies is pleased to annouce the launch of its tribute to our colleague and founder, V. F. Perkins.

Please visit the tribute here.