Zoe Burgess

Dr Zoë Burgess

Senior Research Fellow
London School of Film, Media and Design

Zoë completed her PhD in Film at the University of Southampton. Her research there focused on gender and class in the amateur film collection of Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA) a regional film archive where she has worked as a film curator since 2016. Before joining the archive, she gained experience in various cultural heritage and project management roles. 

During 2023-2024 she worked as a senior research associate on the AHRC/IRC funded project Women in Focus, at the University of East Anglia. Through the adoption of feminist methodologies, this project aimed to identify significant gaps in knowledge of women amateur filmmakers. 

At the University of Southampton, Zoë taught on the MA Film, MA Film and Cultural Management and on the MA Global Media Management courses and was involved in a number of research projects including with the Social Practices Lab at Winchester School of Art and with the school of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics on Investigating Incel Identity.

  • Qualifications

    • PhD (2024) Film, University of Southampton
    • MA Museums and Galleries, University of Southampton
    • BA History of Art and Film, University of Southampton
  • Awards

    Domitor Student Essay Award October 2023
    BAFTSS April 2022 – PGR Poster winner and runner up 2021
    University of Southampton: Festival of Doctoral Research poster winner in all eligible categories
  • Memberships

    British Association of Film and Television Screen Studies (BAFTSS)

Research

  • Research and publications

    Under contract. Burgess, Z, J. V; Motrescu-Mayes, A, (eds) (expected Sprin 2025) 9.5mm Film and Participatory Media before the digital age, Routledge, London 

    Forthcoming. Burgess Z, J V ‘A problem of class: Amateur filmmakers and socio-economic status in the UK, 1920-1950’ in Fenwick, J. (2024) Disrupting Dominance in the Archive. Bloomsbury, London.

    Burgess, Z. J. V (2021) ‘“I’m here, but you can't see me”: women amateur filmmakers, attribution and the archive’, Viewfinder Magazine, (118). Available at: https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/viewfinder/articles/im-here-but-you-cant-see-me-women-amateur-filmmakers-attribution-and-the-archive/ 

    Viney, Z; Hannan, K. (2011) ‘Finding the Context: Cataloguing Films for SHUK’, Hampshire Archives Trust, pp. 9–10. 

    Viney, Z; Hannan, K. (2012) ‘Revitalising the Regions: Exploring Film and Filmmakers’, ARC Magazine (Archives and Records Association), pp. 18–19. 

    Viney, Z. (2012) ‘The Empress Eugenie and the Imperial Vestments at St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough.’, La Fondation Napoléon, Napoleonica. La Revue, (11), pp. 183–208. 

    Viney, Z. (2017) ‘Bringing our History to Life: promoting the use of archive film in cross curricular learning.’, ARC Magazine (Archives and Records Association), p. 14. Available at: http://www.archives.org.uk/images/ARC_Magazine/ARC_Mag_FEB17.pdf 

    Blog posts 

    Burgess, Z, J V ‘Panning for gold in the amateur film collection of Wessex Film and Sound Archive’
    https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2023/02/06/panning-for-gold-in-the-amateur-film-collection-of-wessex-film-and-sound-archive/ [Accessed 07/02/2023]

  • Conferences

    03-05/04/2024 BAFTSS Annual Conference – Amateur Cinema SIG-panel paper presentation ‘Taken by my Wife: The problem with polarising amateur practice, gender and seriousness’; Archives SIG & British Cinema SIG roundtable presentation on Women in Focus. 

    09/03/2023 BAFTSS Colour and Film SIG - Research Seminar - Paper presentation of ‘Colour Stories from the (amateur) archive’. 

    03-05/04/2023 BAFTSS Annual Conference - Amateur Cinema SIG - Panel paper presentation for the Amateur Cinema SIG ‘Towards the next century of amateur film archives: writing ourselves into history’. 

    17-19/11/2022 Lichtspiel-Berne –‘9.5mm: And Cinema is Everywhere’ - Paper presentation ‘Charting the true cost of 9.5 in the UK’. 

    18/06/2022 University of Southampton – Paper presentation ‘‘We ordinary poor mortals have the consolation of knowing that the price always comes down later-on’ - Charting the affordability of 9.5mm (1922-1950)’. 

    06/04/2022 BAFTSS Archives and Archival Methods SIG - Online presentation as part of a research seminar 'Gender and Class in the amateur film collection of Wessex Film & Sound Archive 1920-1950'. 

    09/06/2021 University of Southampton - Festival of Doctoral Research (Poster presentation) ‘Gender and Class in the Amateur film collection of WFSA 1920-1950’. 

    27/05/21 Domitor/University of Birkbeck. Remapping Early British Cinema Symposium - (online paper presentation) ‘Exploring gender and class in the amateur film collection of Wessex Film & Sound Archive (WFSA) 1920-1950 - Remapping ‘early’ film in the context of a regional collection’. 

    26/05/21 University of Southampton: Department of Film – Post Graduate Researcher Conference - (online paper presentation) ‘Gender and Class in the Amateur film collection of WFSA 1920-1950’. 

    11/05/2019 King’s College London: British Life on Film: History and the Film Archives symposium - (paper presentation) ‘Profiling the man with the movie camera: exploring gender and class in the amateur film collections of WFSA 1920-1950’.