Markus Nornes

Markus Nornes is a Professor of Asian Cinema at the University of Michigan, affiliated with the School of Art & Design, Department of Film, Television and Media, and Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. His research focuses on Japanese and broader Asian cinema, documentary filmmaking, and film translation theory. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1996 and has taught at Michigan since then.

His work explores the political and ethical dimensions of nonfiction film, particularly in Japan's documentary history from the Meiji era through Hiroshima, and the evolution of screen translation. He advocates for 'abusive translation' to challenge conventional subtitling norms. Current projects include a critical biography of Adachi Masao and a multi-volume Japanese film theory translation collection.

Recent publications include Brushed in Light (2021) on calligraphy in East Asian cinema, Hallyu 2.0 (2015) analyzing Korean media's digital expansion, and Forest of Pressure (2007) on Ogawa Shinsuke's collective. His Google Scholar profile reflects a career bridging film history, translation ethics, and transnational media studies.

• Faculty Research Grant for Taiwan Studies, Ministry of Education, Taiwan (2011)
• Visiting Professorship at Fudan University (2010)
• Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor at Harvard (2008-2009)
• Japan Foundation Research Fellow (2004-2005)
• Fulbright Research Fellow (1999-2000)

As a filmmaker, Nornes co-directed The Big House (2018) and When We're Together (2020), often collaborating with students. He has curated major film retrospectives at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and University of Michigan, specializing in Japanese and Asian nonfiction cinema. His digital humanities projects, such as the Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema online reprint, showcase his commitment to accessible film scholarship.