Dina Iordanova (born 1960) is an educationalist and Professor of Film Studies at the

University of St. Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. A specialist in

world cinema World cinema is a term in film theory in the United States that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. ...

, her special expertise is in the cinema of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Europe in general. Her research approaches cinema on a meta-national level and focuses on the dynamics of

transnational film Transnational cinema is a developing concept within film studies that encompasses a range of theories relating to the effects of globalization upon the cultural and economic aspects of film. It incorporates the debates and influences of postnational ...

; she has special interest in issues related to cinema at the periphery and in alternative

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

. She has published extensively on international and transnational film art and

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

, and convenes research networks on film festivals and on the Dynamics of World Cinema, with funding from the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

Early life

Born in an intellectual family in

communist Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; , NRB; ) was the official name of Bulgaria when it was a socialist state, socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; ) together with its coalition partner, the Bul ...

, she read Philosophy and German and obtained her doctorate under the guidance of Prof. Isaac Passy in Aesthetics and cultural history at Kliment Okhridski University in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, in 1986. She worked at the Institute for Cultural Studies before emigrating to Canada in 1990. In emigration Iordanova lived and worked in Canada and the US, later on settling in the UK in 1998 and becoming actively engaged in European networks and projects.

Career

Prior to her arrival at St. Andrews, she held positions at the Radio-TV-Film department at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, a Rockefeller Fellowship at the

Franke Institute for the Humanities The Franke Institute for the Humanities is located in Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago. It promotes sharp, rigorous scholarship in the humanities and social sciences by sponsoring research fellows, organizing talks, workshops, and ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

in England. Her work is reviewed widely, translated in over fifteen languages and adopted for use in courses at over seventy Universities internationally. She has been a guest professor at the

, and served as distinguished visiting professor at

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

. Iordanova created the Film Studies programme at the

, where she was appointed to the first

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

in Film in 2004 and engaged in a wide-ranging effort to modernize the university's portfolio, bringing the programme to an internationally respected status within a short time. She also founded the Centre for Film Studies, which she currently directs and was behind the

Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland is a charitable trust established by Andrew Carnegie in 1901 for the benefit of the universities of Scotland, their students and their staff. The incorporation of the Trust was by royal ch ...

-funded initiative of the Scottish Consortium of Film and Visual Studies. In 2010-2012 Iordanova served as

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

St Leonard's College (University of St Andrews) St Leonard's College is a postgraduate institute at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1512 as an autonomous theological college of the University of St Andrews, it merged with St Salvator's College in 1747 to form ...

Works

Her book Cinema of Flames reviewed in over thirty journals, including Kinoeye, Screening the Past, Post Script, Europe-Asia Studies, and has been extensively discussed in various scholarly contexts. Cinema of the Other Europe, the 2003 monograph on the cinemas of Central Europe, was reviewed in Screening the Past, Film Quarterly, Kinema, and a range of other print journals. She has published monographs on director

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and musician. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s. He has competed at the Cannes ...

, and on the

Cinema of Bulgaria Bulgaria has been producing films since 1915. Bulgarian cinema is known for the pioneering work of directors like Donyo Donev in the field of animation. The filming and screening of Vasil Gendov's film '' Bulgaran are Gallant'' (1915) is cons ...

. Her work on transnational cinema includes the volume Cinema at the Periphery, work related to the representation of Romanies in international film, as well as on the representation of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

and other current social problems. Since 2009 she has been publishing the series of Film Festival Yearbooks, which includes volumes on The Festival Circuit (with Ragan Rhyne), Film Festivals and Imagined Communities (with Ruby Cheung). She writes the blog DinaView on topics related to world cinema, culture, technology and investing.

Bibliography

of Paris''
(with

Jean-Michel Frodon Jean-Michel Frodon (born 20 September 1953 in Paris) is a journalist, critic and historian of cinema. Biography Born Jean-Michel Billard, he writes with a pseudonym borrowed from Frodo of ''The Lord of the Rings''. He has a master's degree and a ...

), St Andrews Film Studies, 2015
de Paris''
(with Jean-Michel Frodon), French translation CNRS Editions, 2017.
Festival Yearboook 6: Film Festivals and the Middle East''
St Andrews Film Studies, 2014.
Festival Reader''
St Andrews Film Studies, 2013.
Disruption: Cinema Moves Online''
(with

Stuart Cunningham Stuart Cunningham (born 1953) is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media Studies at QUT. Biography He is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Queensland University of Technology, and Forme ...

), St Andrews Film Studies, 2012.
Festival Yearbook 4: Film Festivals and Activism''
(with Leshu Torchin), St Andrews Film Studies, 2012.
Festival Yearbook 3: Film Festivals in East Asia''
(with Ruby Cheung), St Andrews Film Studies, 2011.
''Cinema at the Periphery''
(with David Martin-Jones and Belen Vidal), WSUP, 2010.
''Moving People, Moving Images: Cinema and Trafficking in the New Europe''
(with William Brown and Leshu Torchin), StAFS, 2010.
''Film Festival Yearbook 2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities''
(with R. Cheung), StAFS, 2010.
''Film Festival Yearbook 1: The Festival Circuit''
(with R. Rhyne), StAFS, 2009.
''Special Issue on Film Festivals''
, guest editor for Film International, Vol. 6, Issue 4, Nr. 34, 2008.
Special issue of Third Text: "Picturing 'Gypsies': Interdisciplinary Approaches to Roma Representation
guest editor for Vol. 22, Issue 3, May 2008.
''Budding Channels of Peripheral Cinema''
Blurb 2008.
New Bulgarian Cinema
College Gate Press, 2008.

Summer 2007.
Indian Cinema Abroad: Transnational Historiography of Cinematic Exchanges
special issue of ''South Asian Popular Culture Studies'', October 2006.

Wallflower, 2006.

Wallflower, 2003 * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080513164153/http://www.frameworkonline.com/latest442.htm Romanies in International Cinema, Special issue of ''Framework'' 44.2 Fall 2003.
Emir Kusturica
BFI, 2002
''Cinema of Flames: Balkan Film, Culture and the Media''
BFI, 2001
Balkan Sinemasi
Turkish translation of ''Cinema of Flames'', Istanbul, Agora, 2013.
BFI's Companion of East European and Russian Cinema
BFI, 2000.

External links

Iordanova's page at the University of St. Andrews website

DinaView blog (by Dina Iordanova)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iordanova, Dina Academics of the University of St Andrews 1960 births Living people