Skadi Loist

Summary

Skadi Loist is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at NTNU’s Department of Art and Media Studies within the Faculty of Humanities. Their research focuses on film festivals, digital methods, gender equity, queer cinema, and sustainability in screen industries. They hold a PhD from the University of Hamburg and have held academic positions at institutions like Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (2018–2025) and the University of Rostock (2014–2018).

Education

• PhD in Media Studies, University of Hamburg (2015)
• Studies in Media Culture, American Studies, Gender Studies, and Art History at the University of Hamburg and Smith College

Research Interests

Loist’s work combines quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze film festival networks, gender inequality in media industries, queer film infrastructure, and sustainable production practices. They co-founded the Film Festival Research Network (FFRN) and the European University Film Award (EUFA), and serve on editorial boards for NECSUS and Journal of Festive Studies.

Publications & Projects

Recent work includes the Gender Equity Policy (GEP) Analysis project (2021–2024) and the Film Circulation initiative (2017–2022), which created a global dataset on festival film paths. Their textbook Film Festivals: History, Theory, Method, Practice (Routledge 2016) is widely used.

Advising & Grants

Loist supervises PhD theses on topics like Jewish film festivals, queer cinema, and gender policy in German film. They’ve led projects funded by BMBF, DFG, ESRC, and SSHRC, focusing on digital humanities and equity in media industries.

Labs/Teams

Core member of the QUADRIGA Berlin-Brandenburg Digital Humanities initiative (2023–2026) and collaborator in the Kinomatics global cinema research network.