BAFTSS 2026

I was Conference Director at the annual conference of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), which took place at the Highcliff Marriott Hotel in Bournemouth, 15-17 April 2026.

Huge thanks to everyone who made organising this event such a pleasure!

The conference team - Maxine Gee, Johnny Walker, Jenn Durrett, Laura Crossley, Carolina Machado Oliveira, Giulio Olesen, José Blázquez, Reina-Marie Loader and Christa van Raalte - are all worth their weight in gold, ready to jump in and fix crises at a moment's notice to keep the good ship BAFTSS 2026 afloat.

The BAFTSS Executive Committee - expertly led by Gábor Gergely - have been supportive and collegiate throughout the long process of planning this conference, and offered valuable reassurance that the event was going well.

The staff at the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel were incredible. Their efficiency and dedication to making sure our event was the best experience it could possibly be was breathtaking.

... and of course, thanks to all the delegates, who presented such innovative, creative, and boundary-pushing work across the three days. The mixture of methodologies across different scholarly generations was truly a wonder to behold. Even while the HE sector is on fire, BAFTSS gives me hope that the future of our discipline is in safe hands.