Mr Michael Schurch 

Postgraduate research student

My research explores the narrative and textual content of contemporary British rural films, identifying their prevailing themes and filmic notions of rural identity.

It seeks to provide evidence of a distinct 21st century aesthetic in the depiction of the socio-political and socio-economic experiences of indigenous rural life, covering a range of topics including rural poverty, suicide and sexuality within farming communities, the paucity of youth opportunity in isolated locations and power relations within rural society.  Extending my research beyond the films themselves into the activities of the UK’s regional film support agencies allows the project to address an inter-dependency between publicly supported film agencies and the makers of rural films.  This in turn aims to demonstrate that the connection of film audiences to the societal concerns of rural communities is enhanced with the allocation of public resources for regional film production, and the determination of film agencies to achieve cultural objectives in addition to their fiscal goals.

Project Supervisors:  Dr Shelley Cobb, Dr Ruby Cheung, Dr Huw Jones