Yael Friedman-Silver

I am currently a senior lecturer in the School of Creative Technologies at University of Portsmouth and a Joint Course Leader of BA (hon) Film Production. My background includes BA in Political Science from Tel Aviv University and working in politics and education in Israel. In 2001 I left Israel for the UK where I graduated with an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from Goldsmiths College and a PhD. in film studies from the University of Westminster. Since I have been teaching in several UK universities, combining film scholarship, critic and practice. My specific areas of expertise include World/transnational cinemas, Middle Eastern cinema and documentary theory and practice.

My research stems from a cultural studies approach to film. I am interested in the intersection of cinema and dominant discourses, economies of production and political and social environments. Thus far, both the documentary films I made and my academic research revolved around issues of identity, memory, migration and exile, primarily in Israel/Palestine. I published several artciles about Israeli and Palestinian cinema, and currently completing a monograph on Plaestinian filmmaking inside Israel for I.B Tauris World Cinemas series. 

Most recently, I am developing a new practice-based research using documentary film practices to explore questions of preformance as a tool for social change.   I am also looking to expand my research into new directions exploring VR and interactive forms of documentary expression.