Dr Nick Higgins
- Dr Nick Higgins
- Programme Director MSc in Media, Culture & Practice
- 13.10, David Hume Tower
- George Square
- Edinburgh
- EH8 9JX
- Work: +44 (0)131 651 3775
- Fax: +44 (0)131 650 3029
- Email:
- Nick.Higgins@ed.ac.uk
Research Interests and Supervision
Dr. Nick Higgins is interested in the politics of culture and cultural politics. He encourages both written and practice-based approaches to research. In particular, he is an advocate of the use of documentary filmmaking as method of cultural intervention and knowledge creation. He welcomes applications for Masters & PhD supervision in the following suggested areas:
- Documentary Films and Practice-Based Research
- Future Cultures & the Cultural Imagination
- Human Rights
- The Cultural Politics of Indigenous Peoples
- Narratives & Counter-narratives of Globalisation
- Images & the Politics of Representation
Dr Higgins teaches the following Postgraduate Options:
- The Politics of Culture & Textual Truths
- Constructing Reality 1: Visual
- Constructing Reality 2: Documentary
- Film & Practice
Biography
Dr Higgins has published widely on the politics of representation in the journals International Affairs, Global Society, and Alternatives as well as publishing the monograph, Understanding the Chiapas Rebellion: Modernist Visions and the Invisible Indian.
Since 2002, Dr Higgins has engaged in critical media practice winning several awards for his documentary films which have screened at academic conferences, film festivals, UK cinemas and on many European television channels including the BBC, STV, YLE (Finland), SVT (Sweden), ZDF (Germany) & VPRO (The Netherlands).
Most recently Dr Higgins originated and raised the funds for the Human Rights film project, The New Ten Commandments, working alongside cinema and arts practitioners such as Tilda Swinton, Irvine Welsh and Douglas Gordon, the resulting film was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and broadcast on BBC2 in December 08.
Dr. Higgins holds honorary fellowships at the Centre for Conflict Analysis at the University of Kent and the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies at the University of Glasgow. Dr Higgins also acts as a mentor for Screen Academy Scotland.
Knowledge Transfer Activities
Working closely with the Scottish Documentary Institute, Dr. Higgins hosts regular public screenings and discussions of his own work and that of others. Recent events have included screenings at the Scottish Parliament and rural cinemas in Scotland. In particular he works with the Document Human Rights Film Festival and the Scottish Mental Health Film, Music and Arts Festival. He is a cultural advisor to the Scottish Commission for Human Rights and Equality and a board member of Video in Pilton. He regularly sits on film festival juries - most recently at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009 and is an active member of a number of professional associations.
Selected Filmography
The New Ten Commandments (2008)
BBC, Scottish Screen & the Scottish Arts Council
Multiple directors, co-produced with the Scottish Documentary Institute (105 min. documentary)
Theatrical Release - 14 cinemas in Scotland (Dec08/Feb09)
Festivals: Mexico, Poland, New Zealand, Cambridge, Document Human Rights Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival (World Premier).
A Massacre Foretold (2007)
58 min. documentary
Winner WAAC/SIGNIS Best Human Rights Film Award 2007
Nominated Sky Movies Documentary Award 2007
Theatrical Release - 7 cinemas in Scotland (Dec07/Jan08)
Festivals: Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Paris, France, Barcelona, Spain, DocsDF, Mexico City, Kosmorama, Norway, First Peoples Film Festival, Canada, Morelia International Film Festival, Mexico, Edinburgh International Film Festival (World Premier).
Mentiras (2006)
13 min. cinema documentary
Theatrical Release - 16 cities in Mexico 2008
Festivals: Ambulante Touring Film Festival, Mexico, Sao Paulo Film Festival, Brazil, Filmlets, Barcelona, Spain, Edinburgh International Film Festival (World Premier) & 15 other international festivals.
Hidden Gifts: The Mystery of Angus MacPhee (2005)
25 min. documentary.
Winner Jury Award Scottish Mental Health Film Festival 2008
Winner Best Documentary Film Award - Britspotting Festival Berlin 2005, Nominated for the Prix Italia- Sept 2005,
Nominated for the Royal Television Society Award 2005
Translated into 8 languages, broadcast on Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Israeli, Arab and British television channels and currently screening at the Museum Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Women in Black (2004)
25 min. documentary
Official selection - Ten Films for Peace, Nobel Peace Foundation. Oslo, Norway, June 2005. Festivals: Canada, Scotland, Belgium, Israel
Selected Bibliography
- 'Globalisation and the Zapatista Rebellion' in Critical Theories, World Politics and 'the Anti-Globalisation Movement', (eds.) Bice Maiguashca and Catherine Eschle, (London, Routledge, 2005)
- 'Mexico's Stalled Peace Process: Prospects and Challenges' in International Affairs, (Vol. 77, Number 4, October 2001)
- 'Image and Identity: Mexican Indians and Photographic Art' in Social Alternatives, (Vol. 20, No. 4, October 2001)
- ‘An Interview with Comandante David, leader of the Zapatista delegation to Mexico City' in Alternatives , (Vol 26, No. 3, October 2001)
- 'The Zapatista Conflict and the Poetics of Cultural Resistance' in Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance, (Vol. 25, No. 3, 2000)
- ‘An Interview with Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, spokesperson and military commander of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)', with Marta Duran de Huerta, in International Affairs , (Vol. 75, No. 2, 1999)
Documentary Film Journalism
- ‘Making The New Ten Commandments' - DOX magazine (Jan 2009)
- ‘Why I make documentaries' Rough Cuts (Feb 2008)
- ‘Avenge but one of my two eyes' - DOX magazine (May 2007)
- ‘The Weeping Camel' -DOX magazine (October 2006)
- ‘Old Truths - New Visions' - Rough Cuts (March 2005)
- ‘The White Diamond' - DOX magazine (May 2005)
- ‘Interview: Jorgen Leth' - DOX Magazine (March 2004)
- ‘The Inner Tour' - DOX magazine (November 2004)
- ‘If you want to see, listen' - DOX magazine (May 2003)
- ‘Festival Report-Thessaloniki' - Rough Cuts (May 2003)
- ‘Is it time to join a cult?' - Rough Cuts (January 2002)
- ‘Missing Women' - DOX magazine (October 2002)
- ‘The Pinochet Case' - DOX magazine (October 2001)
- ‘Interview: Kate Davies' - DOX magazine (November 2001)
External Links
This article was published on Nov 1, 2012