I am Professor of Transnational Film Cultures. My research interests lie broadly in world cinema, particularly in terms of how national and cultural imaginaries are expressed in film, and how these negotiate the structures of institutional and industrial practices in production, distribution and reception of film. I write about how and where film circulates, and the kinds of social, cultural and political encounters that ensue. 

I am author of Cosmopolitan Cinema (Bloomsbury 2017), co-editor of Chinese Cinemas: International Perspectives (with Andy Willis, Routledge 2016) and Women in East Asian Cinema (with Fraser Elliott and Andy Willis, Edinburgh University Press 2023).

In September 2026, I will take up a British Academy Senior Research Fellowship for 12 months, which will allow me to work on my next book project, tentatively titled: Cinema Before Nation: Screen Representations of Singapore Before Independence.

I arrived in Manchester in 2008 to join the Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures as a Research Fellow in Film, Media and Transnational Cultures, by way of a PhD at Nottingham (2003-07) and a Research Associate at the Centre for Media Research, at the University of Ulster (2005-08) in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.

Shortly after my arrival in Manchester in 2008, I met likeminded individuals and we then proceeded to form a research network called the Chinese Film Forum UK, in collaboration with colleagues from Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Salford, the Confucius Institute at the University of Manchester, the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art (previously, Chinese Arts Centre) and HOME (previously, Cornerhouse). The Forum has largely succeeded in its aims to broaden the research into and widen the audience for Chinese cinemas in Manchester, the Northwest, and the UK as a whole. Between 2012 and 2014, it was a recipient of an AHRC Research Network grant. Across its lifespan, the Chinese Film Forum UK put out a regular programme of annual Chinese New Year film screenings, as well as organising and delivering curated film seasons, introduced screenings and Q&As, and talks and academic symposia. 

I served as departmental director of PGT and PGR from 2014 to 2022, and as Head of Department from 2022 to 2025.

I am broadly interested in film and cultural historiography, especially the socio-economic conditions for cultural production, reception and exhibition, and equally, their suppression. I am particularly interested in marginalised (even 'forgotten') texts and practices, and the politics of knowledge production (or repression). Geographical focus inclusive of, but not exclusive to, East and Southeast Asia, and the diaspora.

I am also interested in the socio-economic histories of cinemagoing, as they intersect with the urban histories and socio-cultural geographies of cinema buildings (including mobile and temporary cinema venues).
 

Please note: I am not available to take on new PhD students in 2026/27.

I have supervised successful PhD projects across a range of topics, including the history of the distribution and exhibition of Chinese cinema in the UK, Indian parallel cinema, prestige television dramas, Japanese role-playing games, ageing and dementia in cinema, and Chinese independent documentary. I am currently supervising a practice-based PhD project on archival practice in Singapore film.

I am open to prospective PhD inquiries in the following areas:

• East and Southeast Asian cinema, and the diaspora
• Transnational cinema circuits and networks
• Production, distribution and exhibition cultures, including film festivals
• Cultures of film-going, including place-based studies
• Cinema and memory

I am UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor.