IDRAC 2019: November 1 @ 10 am SLT, Disability and Media Representation

Catalin Brylla

Catalin Brylla, Senior Lecturer in Film from the University of West London, will discuss “Disability and Media Representation” at 10 am SLT (Pacific time) on Friday, Nov. 1. He will speak about disability representation (especially the case study of blindness), social stereotypes, bias and his own film work that tries to bypass disability stereotypes. The main objective of this presentation is not to highlight the media stereotypes that most people are familiar with, but to highlight mechanisms of stereotype formation and maintenance, which can help media producers create alternative portrayals. Dr. Brylla’s research aims for a pragmatic understanding of documentary spectatorship with regards to social cognition, stereotypes, experience, empathy and narrative comprehension. In a larger context his work also advocates for the filmmaker's understanding of how audio-visual and narrative representation impacts on society's understanding of stigmatised groups, such as disabled people, women and African cultures. He has published two edited books, “Documentary and Disability” (with Helen Hughes) and “Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film” (with Mette Kramer), and he has directed the feature documentary “Zanzibar Soccer Dreams” (with Florence Ayisi).

This event will be live-streamed via Virtual Ability Inc.'s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ/live.