Dr Andy Willis

+44 (0)161 295 6059
a.willis@salford.ac.uk

Andy Willis is a Reader in Film Studies and the Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Film Studies. He has over 20 years experience of teaching film and media studies, working extensively in adult, further and higher education.

Andy is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornerhouse, Manchester's international mixed arts venue (www.cornerhouse.org) and Chair of the Board of Filmonik, Manchester's monthly open space for filmmakers. During his career he has forged strong links with a number of independent cinemas across the UK where he has provided numerous introductions and talks and taught evening courses on a wide variety of topics. He also helped organise a number of film seasons and retrospectives, most recently on contemporary Hong Kong cinema, Mexican wrestling films, the work of British film director J. Lee Thompson and Spanish and Latin American horror films. In 2002 he co-programmed a celebration of Channel 4 at the Cornerhouse cinema, Manchester, entitled 4 Sight: 20 years of Channel 4 which ran from 2nd-27th November. Alongside these activities he has undertaken on-stage interviews with various film practitioners including: Guillermo Arriaga (Scriptwriter: Amores Perros, 21 Grams, 3 Burials, Babel), Marc Evans (Director: Snow Cake, My Little Eye), Jonathan Finn (Producer: Billy Elliot), Richard Smith (Scriptwriter: Trauma) and Koldo Serra (Director: The Backwoods). In 2002 he acted as a consultant for the BBC World Service series 'Introducing Media Studies' which was first broadcast in March and April of that year.

Andy has also acted as an External Examiner for research degrees, undergraduate and postgraduate courses and at a number of other UK universities. These have included: Manchester University, Brunel University, The University of Staffordshire, Accrington and Rossendale College for Liverpool John Moores University, The University of Central Lancashire, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of East Anglia and Leeds University. He has also served as the Chief Examiner for the Associated Examining Board 'A' Level Media Studies. He is the co-editor, with Núria Triana Toribio (Manchester University), of the Manchester University Press book series Spanish and Latin American Filmmakers (www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk) and was a founder member of the editorial board of SCOPE: an online journal of film studies.

His research interests and publications focus on popular cinema and in particular Spanish horror films, contemporary Hong Kong cinema and American martial arts films. He also has a long standing interest in British television drama.

Main Publications

Books

The Cinema of Alex de la Iglesia with Peter Buse and Núria Triana Toribio. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007)

Alternatives to Hollywood with Sarah Perks and Isabelle Vanderschelden (Luton: Auteur Press, 2005)

Media Studies: texts, institutions and audiences with Lisa Taylor (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)

Edited books

Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond editor (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004)

Spanish Popular Cinema co-editor with Antonio Lazaro Reboll Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004)

Defining Cult Movies: the cultural politics of oppositional taste co-editor with Mark Jancovich, Julian Stringer and Antonio Lazaro Reboll (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003)

Articles in refereed journals

'The Spanish popular Auteur: Alex de la Iglesia as polemical tool'. Co-authored with Peter Buse and Núria Triana Toribio. In New Cinemas: journal of contemporary film, 2:3, 2004, 139-148.

'Este no es un juego, es Accion Mutante: the provocations of Alex de la Iglesia.' Co-authored with Peter Buse and Nuria Triana Toribio. In Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies. 2004, 9-22.

'Forced to Fight: Martial Arts Films and the Exploitation Tradition'. In Scope: an on-line journal of film studies. Vol. 2 no.2, July 2000.

Chapters in books

'More than Simply Cowboys, Naked Virgins, Werewolves and Vampires? The Transatlantic Cinema of León Klimovsky.' In Victoria Ruetalo and Dolores Tierney (eds.) Latsploitation, Latin America, and Exploitation Cinema (New York: Routledge, 2009).

'The Fantastic Factory: the horror genre and contemporary Spanish cinema'. In Jay Beck and Vicente Ortega (eds.) Genre and Contemporary Spanish Cinema (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008) pp.27-43.

'Rethinking the History of European Horror: Television, La porta sul buio and Historias para no dormir'. In Lincoln Geraghty and Mark Jancovich (eds.) (Jefferson: McFarland, 2008) pp. 110-112.

'La Semana de Asesinio: Spanish horror as subversive text.' In Horror International. Steven J. Schneider and Tony Williams (eds.). (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2005)

'Italian Horror Cinema: between art and exploitation'. In William Hope (ed.) Italian Cinema: new directions. (Bern: Peter Lang, 2004) pp. 109-130.

'Cynthia Rothrock: From the Ghetto of Exploitation'. In Andy Willis (ed.) Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004) 174-188.

'From the Margins to the Mainstream: trends in recent Spanish horror films'. In Antonio Lazaro Reboll and Andrew Willis (eds.) Spanish Popular Cinema. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004) pp. 237-249.

'Film Studies, Spanish Cinema and Questions of the Popular'. With Antonio Lazaro Reboll. In Antonio Lazaro Reboll and Andrew Willis (eds.) Spanish Popular Cinema (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004) pp. 1-23.

'Spanish Horror and the Flight from Art Cinema'. In Defining Cult Movies: the cultural politics of oppositional taste. Mark Jancovich et. al. (eds.) (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003) 71-83.

'Locating Bollywood: notes on the Hindi Blockbuster, 1975 to the present'. In Movie Blockbusters. Julian Stringer (ed) (London: Routledge, 2003) pp. 255-268.

'Martial Law and the changing face of martial arts on US TV'. In Quality Popular Television. Mark Jancovich and James Lyons (eds.). London: British Film Institute, 2003) pp. 137-147.

'Angustia and the self-reflexive horror film'. In Cultura Popular: essays in Hispanic popular culture. Shelly Godsland and Anne White (eds) (Bern: Peter Lang, 2002) pp. 71-82.

'Cynthia Rothrock, Jackie Chan and the Changing Face of Martial Arts Films in the West'. In Consuming Pleasures: selected essays in popular fiction. Julia Hallam and Nickianne Moody (eds). Liverpool: John Moores University Press, 2001) pp. 334-347.

'Cultural Studies and Popular Film'. In Approaches to Popular Film, Joanne Hollows and Mark Jancovich (eds.). (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995) pp. 173-191.

Conference Organisation

Co-organiser of the conference, Europe on Screen: issues in the future distribution and exhibition of European cinema, held at Salford University, June 2008.

Co-organiser (with CP Lee) of 'Funny People those Foreigners', 2nd annual Salford University comedy conference, held at Salford University, June 2008.

Co-organiser of the symposium Made in Hong Kong: a decade of new cinema, held at The Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, July 2007.

Co-organiser of What's in the Box? Comedy and identity in British film and television, held at University of Salford, May 2007.

Co-organiser of British Screens Now, held at Manchester Metropolitan University, September 2006.

Co-organiser of Contemporary Spanish Cinema, held at the Cornerhouse cinema, as part of the Viva Spanish film festival, Manchester, March 2002.

Co-organiser of Defining Cult Movies, held at Broadway cinema, Nottingham, November 2000.