I am the language tutor in Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, where I teach modules in the field of Hispanic Studies, including Spanish language and translation. I am by training a film historian with an interest in contemporary art.
A substantial portion of my work to date has involved research into Spanish and European film. I co-edited the first four volumes of Desacuerdos. Sobre arte y política en el estado español (MACBA, 2004–2007) to which I also contributed as a writer, with chapters on dissident filmmakers under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, and on feminist video-artists. I have also studied Metrópolis (TVE-2, 1985-), one of the longest-running art programmes in the history of global television.
Between 2016-2019 I was involved in a FEDER/MINECO research project entitled ‘Spanish Contemporary Art for Mainstream Audiences’ based at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. For this project, I wrote about the representation of Pablo Picasso in the newsreel NO-DO. In addition, I have published widely on European science-fiction films screened between 1979 and 2009. My article on European cyberpunk has recently been republished in Takayuki Tatsumi’s edited volume Cyberpunk in a Transnational Context (2019). Another research interest is documentary. My latest publications in this field are a book chapter included in Female Agency and Documentary Strategies (EUP, 2018), edited by Boel Ulfsdotter and Anna Backman Rogers; and two entries for Directory of World Cinema Iran, vol. 2 (Intellect, 2017), edited by Parviz Jahed.
My current research focuses on the representation of one of the largest ethnic minorities in Spain, the Roma people (Gypsies). I am fascinated by the paradox of a community that embodies a certain idea of national identity while remaining alien in its own country. Until now, the focus of most studies on this subject has been limited to fictional films. My research aims to broaden the scope of analysis by examining both fiction and non-fiction films, television series and videos launched by Roma cyber-activists. A first sample of my research on the Spanish Roma has been published as a book chapter in The Modern Spanish Canon (Legenda, 2018).
Alongside an enthusiactic team of cinephiles, I co-edit Secuencias, a film journal published by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. During my time as Chief Editor (2010-2012), we transformed the previously print-only journal into an online, peer-reviewed, free access journal, to disseminate the study of world cinemas from an historical perspective. As of 2020, I am also a member of the Centre for Visual Cultures at Royal Holloway.
Before joining Royal Holloway, I taught undergraduate courses on Modern and Contemporary Art as well as on Film and Television History at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad Carlos III (Madrid).
I am committed to public engagement, bringing Spanish and Latin American films in their original language to young audiences. One of the most rewarding experiences in the past decade has been presenting Study Days at the British Film Institute for students from KS2 to A Level (the latter co-presented with Professor Sarah Wright). Moreover, I have developed for the BFI open access digital teaching resources for KS4 students who wish to continue learning Spanish during the Covid-19 pandemic.
More information about my research is available via Academia
Expertise
Spanish cinema and television
Transnational cinemas
Gender studies
Documentary
Romani studies
European science-fiction films
Media experience
Interviewed for Contratiempo. Historia y Memoria, “Ciencia ficción, historia, presente y futuro”, Radio Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid 01/03/2010 (in Spanish).
lidiameras@rhul.ac.uk
@LidiaMeras
