Melissa Oliver-Powell

Melissa Oliver-Powell is a Lecturer in Film and Literature at the Department of English and Related Literature, University of York. She holds a PhD in Film Studies from University College London (UCL), funded by a Graduate Research Scholarship, focusing on motherhood representations in mid-20th-century British and French cinema. Her work bridges film studies, feminist theory, and socio-political analysis, with a focus on European, African, and American cinemas.

Education:

• PhD in Film Studies, UCL (2014–2018)

Research Interests: Melissa examines intersections of motherhood, political change, and gender/queer theories in world cinema. Key areas include reproductive rights in the French New Wave, Agnès Varda’s feminist film practice, post-independence Senegalese cinema, and welfare-state critiques in British social realism. Her monograph Pepsi and the Pill: Motherhood, Politics and Film in the Sixties (Berghahn Books, 2022) analyzes 1960s European cinema’s portrayal of motherhood amid socio-political shifts.

Teaching & Supervision: She teaches film theory, feminist critical approaches, and queer screen cultures at both BA and MA levels, including the MA Film and Literature program. She supervises PhD students exploring topics like kinship representations, film and protest, and West African cinemas.

Awards: Graduate Research Scholarship (UCL, 2014–2018).

Future Projects: Melissa is developing a long-term project on ‘Dissident Kinships,’ examining contemporary filmmakers’ engagement with European welfare policies and queer family structures.