Associate Professor in Film Studies wins BAFTSS Award

Dr Ruby Cheung, Associate Professor in Film Studies, has won the Best Monograph Award 2024 for her single-authored monograph Hong Kong’s New Indie Cinema (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) from the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS).

Dr Cheung’s book explores the Hong Kong film industry of the 2010s, focusing on its (presumably) independent sector. It studies closely Hong Kong’s new indie cinema of the 2010s from political, economic, social, cultural, and film industrial perspectives, arguing that this indie cinema was vital to the long-term sustainability of the city’s film industry.

The BAFTSS Publications Awards judges said: ‘This is an important book that elucidates a new perspective and moment in Hong Kong cinema culture. Cheung’s positioning is clear, and her grounding of the introduction frames the book well. The precision of expression and the patience with which terminology and argumentation are presented is second to none. The range of approaches that make up the discussion of new indie work well. We found this a pleasure to read. Highly accomplished, generous to the reader in its accessibility and hugely interesting due to its broad contextual framing and the precision with which the films are analysed.’

Dr Cheung said: ‘I am very honoured to receive this prestigious publication award from the BAFTSS. This international recognition confirms my significant contribution to the discipline, as well as to the development of the research area closest to my heart.’

The BAFTSS is the representative body for higher education departments and scholars engaged in the teaching, research and study of the medium of film, television and screen media in the UK. It is international in its membership and research interests in theories, philosophies, practices, and histories of relevant fields.

See the full list of winners and nominees at the BAFTSS Publications Awards 2024