Border Perversion: Physical, Bodily and Conceptual Borders and the Multimodal Essay Film is an interdisciplinary and multimodal media dissertation based on extensive research, interviews and field notes. This practice-led research investigates alternative border imaginaries through two multimodal essay films Blazing Worlds and Common Work, and a written thesis that examines the shifting nature of borders — conceptual, political and lived experiences — in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. It developed from the question as to why, in hyper globalized world, are so many borders being built? There were fewer than five border walls globally post World War II, and just 12 border walls at the end of the Cold War. Today, 74 border walls exist across the globe, most of them erected in the past two decades, with at least 16 more planned or in construction at the time of writing. Within all power relations, there is the potential for resistance, especially through changing the meaning and value of terms. In this dissertation, I reactivate the concept of perversion as an erring or straying as a source of subversive and creative potential, to unveil alternative border imaginaries within the distinctive legal terrain of the Svalbard archipelago. Through this exploration, I analyze and contribute to unconventional perspectives of borders. This involves not only navigating the complex legal intricacies of the Svalbard archipelago, but also pushing artistic boundaries to transcend the genre of the essay film. By appropriating perversion, I challenge existing conceptual frameworks but also pioneer an innovative approach to understanding artistic expression, proposing the emergence of a new type of essay film, a multimodal essay film, which continues the essay film’s trajectory of subverting dominant artistic structures. The multimodal essay film provides room to explore the complex issues of borders by blurring the boundaries of materialities and methods. I assert that this transgression reanimates the subversive and augments its heterogeneous form through the introduction of objects. I undertook field research in Svalbard as the Svalbard Treaty provides a compelling case study to illustrate alternative border imaginaries which transcends the traditional domestic-international divide. With its unique governance model, and diverse transnational players, the fluid coexistence among actors in Svalbard challenges the dichotomy between “them” and “us”, revealing a more intricate interplay of belonging. My exploration of how identity and belonging operate in Svalbard, in a context detached from conventional life markers, offers a fresh perspective on the evolving nature of borders. In parallel, this thesis has two multimodal essay film realizations, Blazing Worlds and Common Work, both of which were exhibited in Ireland, and a collection of interviews with artists and scholars exploring multimodal essay film. In addition, a symposium titled ‘Encounters with Boundaries’ was hosted by the Slought in Philadelphia in 2022 which explored issues raised in this dissertation. The central focus of this research is exploring the beyond of the essay film and of conventional border frameworks, fostering space for diverse narratives, practices, and imaginings. Through this exploration, it contributes to the decolonization of knowledge by transcending genre boundaries. / Documentary Arts

ZUGZWANG is a proof-of-concept short horror film following Ian Sepela, a man being haunted by the Shadow Man, a sleep paralysis demon. He must confront his past to save himself and his mother from the Shadow Man’s clutches or lose their lives just like he’d lost his father’s to the Shadow Man twenty years prior.

Zugl.: Marburg, Univ., Diss.

The main aim of this thesis is to provide a voice to a marginalised community on the island of Inishbofin off the North West coast of Co. Donegal in Ireland. The film’s usefulness lies in its portrayal of a small, indigenous, fragile community that clings to existence and its strength lies in giving voice to this minority in an attempt to correct perceptions of Irishness. This thesis seeks to enrich the discourse surrounding the way Irish identity is reconciled through the moving image. The theme is explored through an investigation of a previously unseen film archive—The Martin Archive—alongside my own documentary film practice. Time within the context of the archive, the nation, the temporality of film, memory and nostalgia is used to structure this thesis exploration. Within my research, the recognition of time and memory and the role these play in the construction of national identity have come to the fore. My documentary film work will intervene within this larger discourse to contribute to another way of thinking about and looking at Irish identity. The ambiguity of historical time and the myth of authenticity are considered through an exploration of how the archive is assembled. My approach correlates with that of certain postcolonial theories, developed through an analysis of the writings of Homi K. Bhabha and Benedict Anderson. In my original approach to this subject I have created a hybrid of two time frames by utilising both The Martin Archive and my own film work, in an attempt to question established notions of Irish national identity. The research is a consideration of the constructed nature of narrative, exploring how a disruption in linear narrative and historical time can provide a new space of performativity, in which the spectator can explore Irish identity anew. By illuminating the multiplicities within the films, the multiple minor voices - that are concurrent in time - can be heard. This process enables the practice to disrupt the time of official history by showing the time of the other. My practice is a temporal bricolage that documents a vulnerable, indigenous, Gaelic speaking community in Co. Donegal. The film work is a poetics of time; memory and fragility, which explores the past, present and future of the community portrayed within the experimental film archive. The structure of the practice as a temporal bricolage displays a fragmented, multiple, jumbled narrative, where chronology itself is disrupted. The fragmentary nature of the practice ensures that no complete meaning can be fixed. The interlocking of historical and personal time enables a plurality of voices to be heard, contesting any dominant historical linear narrative.

In this thesis report traces I detail the process from the conception of the idea through the arduous development and finally the final product of Wayne Cheong’s narrative screenplay. Also included are the numerous revisions that have resulted from his involvement in this project. / text

<p>Detta är en C-uppsats inom ämnet Filmvetenskap. Syftet är att med hjälp av kognitiva och tematiska teorier analysera Christoffer Boes film "Reconstruction" (2003). Analysen bygger på en scenförteckning där varje scen analyseras för sig baserat på kognitiv filmteori. Därefter följer en tematisk analys av hela filmen.</p><p>Då det är en film med otydlig kausal ordning är det svårt att komma fram till ett konkret vetenskapligt resultat. Därför resulterar analysen snarare i möjliga hypoteser som författaren anser adekvata. I korthet resulterade den kognitiva analysen i en hypotes som föreslår att filmen utspelar sig i två världar vilka efterhand vävs in i varandra. Föreslagna teman i den tematiska analysen är kärlek som primärtema och staden Köpenhamn som sekundärtema. Även dessa två vävs in i varandra och samspelar filmen igenom.</p>

This thesis examines the different ways films have explored female presence as a narrative and stylistic concern. The role of female presence in the creation of film meaning has often been reductively minimised or altogether neglected within many theoretical approaches to cinema. Depictions of female characters—especially those found in Hollywood films—have been viewed by feminist critics only in terms of the manifestation of sexist ideological principles, whilst more recently, 'affective' film theorists have reduced the role of presence to a simple question of fluctuating physical intensity. This thesis contests these limiting and monolithic understandings of the function of female presence by demonstrating how films have produced complex and diverse meanings through their portrayals of women characters. Closely analysing films by six directors from various styles of cinema, including examples from Classic Hollywood film and more experimental or avant-garde works, the thesis contends that films can raise the question of the condition of a female character's presence as a vital component of meaning. It illuminates how the subject of female presence is advanced, moment-to-moment, as a crucial element in the achievement of these films' intricately wrought dramas. The thesis therefore shows that female film presence is neither simply a symptom of ideology, nor a vehicle for varying degrees of affective intensity. Rather, it is something which is actively at stake in the drama and the design of films.

An increasing number of filmmaking projects borrow approaches from open source programming methodologies in the practical process of film production. The potential benefits of open filmmaking include fast development times, customizable storytelling, less-biased reportage and a rich learning environment for future filmmakers, among others. There has been very little academic study about the challenges of this approach and the opportunities it affords for distributed filmmaking. This thesis explores the possibility of incorporating open source programming methodologies into the practice of distributed filmmaking. It develops a number of emergent policies and procedures that relate to this practice, and tests them out using an interactive website called “Swarm TV”. This online environment acts as a prototype for these policies and procedures, as well as functioning as a probe, testing their effectiveness in the filmmaking projects. Data is collected from the website and has been used from a number of projects over the last nine years, to reflect on how these emergent policies and procedures affect the dynamics of a filmmaking community. From the context of open source programming, the digital revolution has emphasized three main characteristics that are significant in open source methodologies: Openness, Non-hierarchy & Collaboration. These concepts are explored in this thesis to define guidelines for distributed filmmaking projects where open source methodologies are implemented. Analysis of the effectiveness of these policies and procedures is provided for filmmaking projects using Swarm TV, and conclusions are developed focused on the effectiveness of open source approaches to filmmaking projects in distributed communities. The practical research in this thesis demonstrates the extent to which open source methodologies are effective for the filmmaking process, and also, identifies the emergent policies and procedures that might facilitate distributed filmmaking in an online environment.

For more than 30 years, the Sundance Film Festival has served as the preeminent venue for exhibiting and selling American independent films. Since the festival’s inception, however, the distinction between Hollywood and indie films has become increasingly unclear, and Sundance has been accused of selling out to the mainstream. On one hand, the Sundance Institute continues to support and incubate truly independent artists who otherwise may never get their films made; on the other hand, the festival that the institute puts on every year is full of A-list stars, corporate sponsors, and countless other examples of Hollywood elitism. The American independent cinema is as vibrant in 2017 as ever, and new powerful players such as Netflix and Amazon who seemed to enter the scene overnight are now investing a great deal of money in the production and acquisition of Sundance films. Though it may seem counterintuitive, 2017’s edition of the festival proves that the presence of these massive corporations and Hollywood stars fosters and facilitates the creation and celebration of American independent film.

This thesis covers the lessons I've learned throughout film school and how I have applied them towards the making of my thesis film, the 12-minute narrative short, Light, shot on digital video. Every aspect of the filmmaking process is covered including my education at UNO and its application to my thesis. Areas covered include the writing process, pre-production, production, and post-production. The one area that is omitted is distribution, something that was not taught at UNO and something that I am in the process of doing. Keywords: Film Production MFA Short Film India Kerala