Alan O'Leary

Alan O'Leary is an Associate Professor in Media Studies at Aarhus University's School of Communication and Culture, where he specializes in videographic criticism and academic filmmaking. His work bridges traditional scholarship with innovative video essay formats, exploring anti-utilitarian practices of 'minor' and 'luxury' scholarship.

Dr. O'Leary's research focuses on the methods and poetics of video essays, with particular interest in constraint-based creativity. His scholarly profile includes significant contributions to understanding how digital videos can serve as critical commentary on film and screen media. He has published extensively in leading journals including [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Image Studies, where he serves as co-editor.

His recent publications demonstrate a consistent trajectory exploring videographic criticism as scholarly practice, with increasing focus on creative constraints, epistolary formats, and collaborative approaches. O'Leary's work has gained international recognition, with video essays winning prestigious awards and being selected for major film festivals including Marienbad Film Festival 2025.

• Winner of the Videographic Criticism category of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) Practice Research Awards 2024
• Video essay CLASSIF. & ME (LAIRD'S CONSTRAINT) selected for Marienbad Film festival 2025
• Multiple video essays named among the best in Sight and Sound annual polls (2022, 2023)

O'Leary actively supervises MA theses and PhD students working on topics including film festivals, collaborative songwriting, and popular celebrity, with special interest in practice-based research. He leads several research projects including Cyborgs, Constraints and Critical Intimacies: The Poetics of Videographic Criticism and Epistolary video essay, while regularly organizing workshops and conferences on videographic methods.