Daniela Berghahn

Daniela Berghahn is a Professor of Film Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, affiliated with the Department of Media Arts and the Humanities and Arts Research Institute. Her research focuses on contemporary European/global art cinema, particularly migrant/diasporic cinema, cultural difference, German film history, and cinema's relationship with memory and family narratives. She has held leadership roles including Associate Dean for Research (Arts and Social Sciences, 2017–2020), Director of HARI (2016–2018), and Departmental Research Director (2014–2018, 2021–2022).

Education:

• University of Cologne, Germany
• Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge

Research Interests: Her work interrogates exoticism's Eurocentric legacy in global cinema, decolonizing film studies methodologies, and diasporic family narratives. She pioneered DEFA (East German cinema) studies in Anglophone academia with Hollywood behind the Wall: The Cinema of East Germany (2005). Recent projects include the Exotic Cinema initiative (www.exotic-cinema.org) and studies on migrant cinema's redefinition of European identity through the Migrant and Diasporic Cinema in Contemporary Europe network (www.migrantcinema.net).

Awards:

• Janovics Center Award (2024)
• African Studies Centre Prize (2024)
• Excellence in Leadership Award (2016)
• Teaching Innovation Prize (2009)

Grants & Projects:

• AHRC-funded research on migrant cinema and diasporic families
• Leadership of interdisciplinary research networks (e.g., Far-flung Families project)
• Over 70 research outputs including monographs, edited volumes, and peer-reviewed articles

Engagement: Editorial board member of Studies in World Cinema and advisory roles for global initiatives like Geocinema.TW. Active in public lectures and media interviews on film's role in cultural diplomacy.