Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Belinda Smaill is the Head of the School of Media, Film and Journalism
She has been researching nonfiction and documentary screen culture for more than two decades. Her recent work has focused on the ethical, cultural and institutional issues that pertain to the environment and biodiversity on screen. She is the author of The Documentary: Politics, Emotion, Culture (2010), Regarding Life: Animals and The Documentary Moving Image (2016) and co-author of Transnational Australian Cinema: Ethics in the Asian Diasporas (2013). She has also published widely in international journals including Screen, JCMS and Camera Obscura.
Supervision interests
I currently supervise doctoral and masters students in film studies, television studies and related disciplines.
Research area keywords
- Environment
- Documentary Media
- Ecocinema and screen media
- Australian Film and Television
- Gender and Cinema
- Cultural History and Film
- Screen Studies
- Human/More-than-human relations
- Popular cinema, film genre and women
- Histories and aesthetics of documentary
- Film and the Anthropocene
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Projects
- 3 Finished
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Remaking the Australian Environment Through Documentary Film and Television
Smaill, B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Healy, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Davis, T. (Chief Investigator (CI))
21/05/19 → 21/05/25
Project: Research
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The history of Asian Australian Cinema: Diaspora, Policy and Ethics
Smaill, B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Khoo, O. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Yue, A. (Chief Investigator (CI))
ARC - Australian Research Council
2/01/09 → 31/12/11
Project: Research
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Youth, Media and Culture in the Asia Pacific Region
Rodrigues, U. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Smaill, B. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Australian National University (ANU)
1/10/05 → 31/10/06
Project: Research
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Encountering flying foxes: audience response and reckoning with ecosystem disruption in Australia
Ashe, M., Troon, S. & Smaill, B., 2026, Cinematic Ecosystems: Screen Encounters with More-than-Humans in the Era of Environmental Crisis. Hegedus, M. & Mulvogue, J. (eds.). 1st ed. Wilmington DE USA: Vernon Press, p. 263-286 24 p. (Series in Cinema and Culture).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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The Living Flame: energy, promotion and ‘natural’ gas in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s
Fitch, K. & Smaill, B., Sept 2025, In: Public Relations Inquiry. 14, 3, p. 327-343 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Creatively reimagining place and community in a world of extreme weather
Grehan, H., Smaill, B. & Ostwald, M. J., 2024, Climate Disaster Preparedness: Reimagining Extreme Events through Art and Technology. Del Favero, D., Thurow, S., Ostwald, M. J. & Frohne, U. (eds.). 1st ed. Cham Switzerland: Springer, p. 183-197 15 p. (Arts, Research, Innovation and Society (ARIS)).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
EFFA presents: Mad Max 2 and an evening of speculative futures
Ashe, M. (Architect), Burgmann-Milner, J. (Architect), Troon, S. & Smaill, B. (Architect), 7 Nov 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Curation › Other
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From extraction to wilderness: Australian film history, environmental history, and The Last Wild River
Smaill, B., 2024, In: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. 63, 5, p. 377-399 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
Activities
- 2 Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
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Documenting Environments: technologies, practices and imaginaries
Smaill, B. (Organiser), Oliver, J. (Organiser), Davis, T. (Organiser) & Head, B. (Organiser)
28 Nov 2018 → 30 Nov 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
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The Place of the Female Director in 21st Century Film Cultures and Feminist Theory
Davis, T. (Organiser) & Smaill, B. (Organiser)
7 Nov 2011 → 8 Nov 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to workshop, seminar, course
Press/Media
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Masterchef sponsorship fans the flames of gas consumption, and critics.
28/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Energy, climate and corporate ties in Australian documentary
16/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Stirring films made the Snowy scheme a nationbuilding project. Could the troubled Snowy 2.0 do the same?
15/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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