Dr Sarah Smyth

Biography

Sarah Louise Smyth is a Lecturer in Film at the University of Essex. Sarah completed her PhD in Film at the University of Southampton in 2019. Her thesis examined contemporary British women's cinema, as part of the AHRC-funded project, Calling the Shots: Women and Contemporary UK Film Culture. Sarah is currently working on a monograph based on her doctoral research, which examines genre and women's filmmaking in British cinema. Sarah's research focuses on women's representation and authorship in contemporary film and television. She is interested in feminist theory, especially feminist film theory; women's filmmaking and television production; postfeminism; pregnancy and motherhood; genre filmmaking. Sarah has published in these areas, including her article "Postfeminism, Ambivalence and the Mother in Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011)", and her forthcoming book chapter, “‘I do not know that I find myself anywhere’: The British Heritage Film and Spaces of Intersectionality in Amma Asante’s Belle (2014)”. Sarah is also a member of Women's Film and Television History Network UK/Ireland (WFTHN) Steering Group. Sarah would welcome PhD applications in the following areas: • Women’s filmmaking • Women’s television production • Issues of gender and representation • Feminist film theory • British cinema • Genre cinema, especially horror, romantic comedy and heritage cinema • Motherhood and pregnancy

Appointments

University of Essex

• Lecturer, Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, University of Essex (1/9/2019 - present)