BA(Hons)(Bulmershe) PhD(Warw)
Associate Professor
Contact
Office: 3N11, 3rd floor, Arts (Burns) Building
Tel: 64 3 4798615
Email: catherine.fowler@otago.ac.nz
Research Interest
Following her PhD on the films of Chantal Akerman, she lectured from 1994-2004 in Film Studies at Southampton Institute of Higher Education, UK. As well as leading the BA (Hons) in Film Studies and being made a Reader in Research (in 2001) she helped develop and then led the MA in Independent Film and Filmmaking.
Her research interests in Film are divided between historical studies and an engagement with Contemporary World Cinema. Her PhD on Chantal Akerman was an attempt to broaden the critical boundaries within which the director's films had been previously discussed, considering not only her status as a 'woman' and 'independent' filmmaker but also her identities as 'Belgian' and 'Jewish'. Aspects of this thesis have been published in various edited collections, and from it have grown projects around the contradictions of national cinema, independent practice and women filmmakers (see Bibliography for details).
Her recent research and publications have encompassed each of these areas. With Gillian Helfield she is co-editor of the collection: 'Representing the Rural: Space, Place and Identity in Films about the Land'. This book offers a critical introduction to issues raised by the many, varied films that take the land as their setting. The essays here consider the ways in which once the urban space is displaced by the rural, so our understanding of cinema's use of modernity, the national, post-colonialism and the post-modern is transformed.
Her most recent book on British woman film-maker Sally Potter, published 2008, offers the first book length survey of a director who uses song, dance, performance and poetry to expand our experience of cinema beyond the audiovisual.
She was Screen correspondent for the 'Créteil Festival de films de femmes' from 1992 - 1998, (writing an annual review) and she has been part of the editorial advisory committee for the magazine Vertigo ( Vertigomagazine.co.uk ).
Current projects arise from her interest in the film-art axis of influence. This is a long term project on films made for and exhibited in the space of the gallery that explores how these films might challenge theorizations of narrative, time and spectatorship in both film studies and art theory.
Papers In 2018
Semester Two:
MFCO408 A topic in Cinema, Gender and Sexuality
Publications
Fowler, C. (2021). Expanding the field of practice-based-research: The videographic (feminist) diptych. Media Practice & Education, 22(1), 49-60. doi: 10.1080/25741136.2021.1832770
Fitzgerald, R., & Fowler, C. (2019, October). Starting a conversation about assessing with sounds and images. Verbal presentation at the Teaching and Learning Symposium: Pride in the Humanities, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Fowler, C. (2018, November). Waru (New Zealand, 2017): Women’s cinema as counter-cinema revisited. Verbal presentation at the Second Screen Studies Association of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (SSAAANZ) Conference: The Uses of Cinema, Melborne, Australia.
Fowler, C. (2017). Becoming awhere in Aotearoa New Zealand: Vincent Ward's exhibition Breath: The Fleeting Intensity of Life (2011). The Thickness of Cinema: Collected Interviews and Presentations from the Circuit Symposium and Artist's Week. Retrieved from https://www.circuit.org.nz/blog/e-book-the-thickness-of-cinema
Fowler, C. (2017, March). Manifesto four for dynamic forms: The precarity, provisionality and chaos of artistic installations. Verbal presentation at the 58th Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference, Chicago, USA.
Fowler, C. (2008). Sally Potter. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 168p.
Authored Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (Eds.). (2006). Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 384p.
Edited Book - Research
Fowler, C. (Ed.). (2002). The European cinema reader. London, UK: Routledge, 255p.
Edited Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2017). Slow looking: Confronting moving images with Georges Didi-Huberman. In M. Beugnet, A. Cameron & A. Fetveit (Eds.), Indefinite visions: Cinema and the attractions of uncertainty. (pp. 241-254). Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2017). The artists' long take as passage in Sharon Lockhart's installation Lunch Break (2008). In J. Gibbs & D. Pye (Eds.), The long take: Critical approaches. (pp. 193-205). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-58573-8
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2017). Unspooling cinema, or, thinking outside the (black) box with Atom Egoyan. In T. Long, E. Matheson & C. Ramsay (Eds.), Atom Egoyan: Steenbeckett. (pp. 49-61). London, UK: Black Dog.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2006). Symphonie paysanne: An embodied and embedded picturing of the land. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 135-149). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2006). Spending time with (a) celebrity: Sam Taylor-Wood's video portrait of David Beckham. In S. Holmes & S. Redmond (Eds.), Framing celebrity: New directions in celebrity culture. (pp. 241-252). London: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (2006). Introduction. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 1-16). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (2006). Part 1. Land: Introduction. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 17-18). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (2006). Part 2. Peasants: Introduction. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 101-103). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (2006). Part 3. Landscape: Introduction. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 183-184). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Helfield, G. (2006). Part 4. Rural and Nation: Introduction. In C. Fowler & G. Helfield (Eds.), Representing the rural: Space, place, and identity in films about the land. (pp. 259-260). Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2003). All Night Long: The ambivalent text of ″Belgianicity″. In G. A. Foster (Ed.), Identity and memory: The films of Chantal Akerman. (pp. 77-93). Carbondale, IL, USA: Southern Illinois University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2003). Cinefeminism in its Middle Ages, or ″Please, please, please give me back my pleasure″: The 1990s work of Sally Potter, Chantal Akerman, and Yvonne Rainer. In J. Levitin, J. Pessis & V. Raoul (Eds.), Women filmmakers: Refocusing. (pp. 51-61). Vancouver, BC, Canada: UBC Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C. (2000). Harnessing visibility: The attractions of Chantal Akerman′s Golden Eighties. In B. Marshall & R. Stilwell (Eds.), Musicals: Hollywood and beyond. (pp. 107-116). Exeter, UK: Intellect.
Chapter in Book - Research
Fowler, C., & Kambuta, R. (2013). Extreme human makeovers: Supernanny, the unruly child, and adulthood in crisis. In K. J. Renner (Ed.), The 'evil child' in literature, film and popular culture. (pp. 173-187). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Other
Fowler, C. (2009). Ciemność, światło i gliniarz: Z Robertem Sarkiesm rozmawia Catherine Fowler [The dark, the light and the cop: An interview with Robert Sarkies] [Reprinted from Illusions 39, 14-17]. In I. Conrich (Ed.), Kino Nowej Zelandii [Cinema of New Zealand]. (pp. 403-413). Kraców, Poland: Korporacja ha!art.
Chapter in Book - Other
Fowler, C. (2004). Jeanne Dielman 23 Quai du commerce 1080 Bruxelles. In E. Mathijs (Ed.), The cinema of low countries. (pp. 131-139). London, UK: Wallflower.
Chapter in Book - Other
Fowler, C. (2021). Expanding the field of practice-based-research: The videographic (feminist) diptych. Media Practice & Education, 22(1), 49-60. doi: 10.1080/25741136.2021.1832770
Journal - Research Article
Miller Skillander, K., & Fowler, C. (2015). From longitudinal studies to longitudinal documentaries: Revisiting infra-ordinary lives. Studies in Documentary Film, 9(2), 127-142. doi: 10.1080/17503280.2015.1031569
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2013). The Clock: Gesture and cinematic replaying. Framework, 54(2), 226-242. doi: 10.1353/frm.2013.0020
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2013). Obscurity and stillness: Potentiality in the moving image. Art Journal, 72(1), 64-79.
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2013). Once more with feeling: Performing the self in the work of Gillian Wearing, Kutluğ Ataman and Phil Collins. Moving Image Review & Art Journal, 2(1), 10-24. doi: 10.1386/miraj.2.1.10_1
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2012). Remembering cinema "elsewhere": From retrospection to introspection in the gallery film. Cinema Journal, 51(2), 26-45. doi: 10.1353/cj.2012.0008
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C., & Kambuta, R. (2011). Extreme human makeovers: Supernanny, the unruly child, and adulthood in crisis. Lit, 22(3), 262-276. doi: 10.1080/10436928.2011.596389
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C., & Voci, P. (2011). Brief encounters: Theorizing screen attachments outside the movie theatre. Screening the Past, 32. Retrieved from http://www.screeningthepast.com/2011/11/
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2010). Cinema that stays at home: The inexportable films of Belgium's Gaston Schoukens, Edith Kiel and Jan Vanderheyden. Screen, 51(3), 256-271. doi: 10.1093/screen/hjq015
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2008). Into the light: Re-considering off-frame and off-screen space in gallery films. New Review of Film & Television Studies, 6(3), 253-267. doi: 10.1080/17400300802418578
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2004). Room for experiment: Gallery films and vertical time from Maya Deren to Eija Liisa Ahtila. Screen, 45(4), 324-343.
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2001). Sites of contestation: The place of Alfred Machin in early Belgian cinema. Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television, 21(4), 347-359.
Journal - Research Article
Fowler, C. (2015). [Review of the book Cinematic journeys: Film and movement]. Studies in European Cinema, 12(1), 87-90. doi: 10.1080/17411548.2014.973694
Journal - Research Other
Fowler, C. (2012). [Review of the book Chantal Akerman]. Modern & Contemporary France, 20(2), 277-278. doi: 10.1080/09639489.2012.665643
Journal - Research Other
Voci, P., & Fowler, C. (2011). Screen attachments: Introduction [Editorial]. Screening the Past, 32. Retrieved from http://www.screeningthepast.com/2011/11/an-introduction/
Journal - Research Other
Fowler, C. (2007). The dark, the light & the cop: An interview with Robert Sarkies. Illusions, 39, 14-17.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2004). The day I will never forget: An interview with Kim Longinotto. Women, 15(1), 101-107.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2003). The film I will never forget: Documentary film-maker Kim Longinotto in conversation. Vertigo, 2(5), 22-23.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2003). [Review of the book Popular cinemas of Europe: Texts, contexts and frameworks]. Screen, 44(2), 246-249.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2002). Doing time [Review of the installation Woman sitting down after killing]. Vertigo, 2(2), 48.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2002). Drake reading light [Review of the book Light readings: Film criticism and screen arts]. Film-Philosophy, 6(18). Retrieved from http://www.film-philosophy.com/vol6-2002/n18fowler
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2002). I′m Spartacus! On no longer seeing films made by women. Vertigo, 2(3), 44-45.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C., & Küppers, P. (2000). The 22nd Créteil Women′s Film Festival, 24 March-2 April 2000. Screen, 41(3), 330-333.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Fowler, C. (2017). Becoming awhere in Aotearoa New Zealand: Vincent Ward's exhibition Breath: The Fleeting Intensity of Life (2011). The Thickness of Cinema: Collected Interviews and Presentations from the Circuit Symposium and Artist's Week. Retrieved from https://www.circuit.org.nz/blog/e-book-the-thickness-of-cinema
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Fowler, C. (2016). Thinking topologically: Contaminated histories of art and film. In D. Cavalloti, F. Giordano & L. Quaresima (Eds.), A history of cinema without names. (pp. 157-164). Milan, Italy: Mimesis Edizioni. [Full Paper]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Fowler, C. (2017). Artistic moving images in the gallery and unscripted realities. Proceedings of the Screenwriting Research Network Conference: Screenwriting: Fact and Fiction, Truth and Real. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/srn-2017/conference/otago634451.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Fowler, C. (2015). Sound's relational geography: New vocabulary for film studies in the art gallery. Proceedings of the XVIIth Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (FHAANZ) Conference. (pp. 63). Retrieved from https://www.ivvy.com/event/FHAANZ/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Fowler, C. (2013). Roots forward, routes back: Isaac Julien's radicant moving image art. Proceedings of the 23rd International Screen Studies Conference. Retrieved from http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/screen/conference2015/pastconferences/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Fowler, C. (2011). Remembering cinema 'elsewhere': Introspection in gallery films. Proceedings of the Screen Cultures Conference. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/languagescultures/screencultures.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Fowler, C. (2008). Introspective and circumspective histories of the cinema in contemporary gallery films. In C. Fowler & R. Simmons (Eds.), Proceedings of the XIVth Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand (Vol. 1: Refereed Abstracts). (pp. 28). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Film, Media and Communication, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Fowler, C. (2008). Sally Potter and other women artists. Proceedings of the 1970s British Culture Conference. Retrieved from http://www.1970sproject.co.uk/events/panelorder.php
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
