Lawrence Novotny

Lawrence Novotny serves as Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University's Media School and Director of the Black Film Center & Archive (BFCA), where he oversees academic programs and curates one of the nation's most significant collections of Black cinematic works.

His research critically examines Black cinematic experiences through the lenses of racial discrimination and cultural resilience, with primary focus areas including Blaxploitation films, Black horror cinema, and representations of race in American media history. His scholarship bridges historical analysis of 1970s genre films with contemporary explorations of works like Jordan Peele's Get Out and television series This is Us.

As Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Popular Culture, Novotny shapes scholarly discourse in media studies while directing the BFCA's initiatives including the 'Blockbuster Futures' conference and archival restorations of historically significant works like Kevin Willmott's 'Naked Acts'. His current projects include co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Films and authoring a biography of Oscar-winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott.