I have research interests in Chinese-language film and media, documentary studies, East Asian cultural studies, transnational cinema, and queer studies (generally conceived). My first book - Independent Chinese Documentary: From the Studio to the Street (New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) - discussed what is sometimes known as the New Chinese Documentary Movement (xin jilu yundong), in particular its engagement with the practice and poetics of xianchang ('liveness'). I have also published on Chinese language animation, feature film, and on Chinese film festivals. Between 2013 and 2014, I was co-investigator (with Professor Chris Berry, KCL) of the AHRC-funded international scholarly network 'Chinese Film Festival Studies': an edited collection on this topic was published in 2017. Between 2019 and 2024, I was co-investigator on the AHRC-funded project 'Independent Cinema in China: State, Market, and Film Culture', which also resulted in a co-edited collection, as well as an archive of Chinese indepnedent cinema based at Newcatsle University.. In addition I have a side interest in the anthropology of film and media, and have previously collaborated with Associate Professor Jenny Chio (University of Southern California) to bring film studies and anthropology into academic dialogue.

I am particularly interested in supervising PhD students working in any area of:

• Chinese-language audiovisual media
• Documentary film and television
• Transnational cinema
• Queer and sexuality studies

I am also interested in contributing to PhDs in Creative and Critical Practice which may touch on these areas. 

In the past I have supervised PhDs and MRes dissertations on the figure of the paedophile in contemporary popular film; representations of the Cultural Revolution in post-2001 Chinese film and television; the reception of Fritz Lang in British film criticism; contemporary Chinese art and cultural diplomacy; the construction of authorship in Wu Wenguang's Village Video Project; and The Muppets and the contemporary media franchise. Prospective PhD students are welcome to email to discuss potential topics, and the process of applying for a research degree at Sussex.