Dorota Ostrowska

Dorota Ostrowska is a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London's School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, specializing in Film and Screen Media. She joined Birkbeck in 2008 as a Lecturer, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2014, and currently serves as Assistant Dean for Business Engagement and Partnerships. She directs the MA Film and Screen Media program and co-directs Postgraduate Research at FMACS.

Her research spans three primary domains: Film Festival Studies focusing on historical, spatial and programming aspects of international festivals; Eastern European Cinema examining socialist/post-socialist film cultures in Poland; and French Cinema analyzing New Wave movements and cultural contexts. She has developed innovative pathways including Film Programming and Curating and oversees Birkbeck's involvement in the Venice Biennale Fellowship.

Her 15 most recent publications (2007-2025) reveal a methodological evolution from historical analysis of Eastern European cinema toward contemporary film festival studies, with increasing emphasis on crisis programming (migration, pandemic), spatial theory, and ethical frameworks. Key trends include decolonizing festival practices, sensory ethnography of red-carpet cultures, and digital transformations in festival operations.

As supervision lead, she has guided doctoral research including Sarah Durcan's 2018 thesis on History of Art Research. Her institutional leadership includes founding roles in the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS), co-hosting its 2011 London conference, and establishing Café Solaris during the pandemic to sustain intellectual community. She has held visiting positions at Université de Montpellier (2021) and Universidad de Navarra (2008, 2009).