Alain Boillat

Alain Boillat is a full Professor in the Section of History and Aesthetics of Cinema at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lausanne (UNIL), a position he has held since August 1, 2010. He has been actively involved in cinema research and academic leadership, serving as Secretary General of the Réseau Cinéma CH since January 2008.

His research centers on film history and film narratology, with a focus on narrative point of view, screenwriting, theories of fiction, and the representation of action in cinema. He approaches these topics from an intermedial perspective, exploring connections between cinema, audiovisual media, comics, and literature. His work bridges historical analysis with aesthetic and theoretical inquiry.

Alain Boillat is the author of La Fiction au cinéma (2001) and From Bonimenteur to Voice-over (2007), the latter based on his BCV Human Sciences Prize-winning thesis. He founded the journal Décadrages. Cinéma à travers champs and has directed major collective publications such as Cinéma CH: Reception, aesthetics, history and Boxes on the Screen. Comics and Cinema in Dialogue. He has published approximately fifty academic articles in journals and edited volumes.

His scholarly contributions have been recognized with the BCV Human Sciences Prize in 2006.

Boillat has mentored students and contributed to academic training, though specific advisees are not listed. His leadership extends beyond teaching through his editorial work and coordination of national cinema research networks. While no specific grants or labs are mentioned, his sustained publication record and institutional roles reflect deep engagement in the academic community.