Richard Rushton

Professor Richard Rushton is a distinguished academic in Film Studies at Lancaster University's Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, where he serves as Professor in Film Studies within the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA). He teaches a comprehensive range of courses including Introduction to Film, Film Theory, European New Wave Cinema, Movie Musicals, and Cinema and History, demonstrating his broad expertise across film history, theory, and genres.

Rushton's research focuses on the critical intersection between theory, culture, and the image, with particular emphasis on film philosophy and theoretical frameworks. His work spans multiple areas including Deleuzean film theory, European cinema (especially French New Wave), Hollywood political cinema, and theatricality in film. He has developed significant expertise in applying philosophical concepts to cinematic analysis, with particular attention to questions of reality, subjectivity, and representation in film.

His recent scholarly output reveals a strong thematic focus on love, relationships, and theatricality across European cinema, with numerous 2023-2024 publications examining filmmakers like Fellini, Godard, Bergman, and Rohmer. This body of work demonstrates his ongoing engagement with both classical and contemporary film theory, particularly in how cinematic representations engage with philosophical questions of human connection, ethics, and social structures.

Rushton has been involved in significant research projects including 'Cinema Memory and the Digital Archive: 1930s Britain and Beyond' (2019-2022) and the ongoing 'IAA - AHRC Impact Acceleration Account' project (2022-2027), indicating sustained research activity and funding success. His supervision interests in film theory, film and philosophy, Hollywood cinema, romantic comedy, French film, and politics and film reflect the breadth of his scholarly engagement.