Ewa Mazierska is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. She was born in Poland and received an education at Warsaw University in philosophy, as well as a PhD in film studies. She has many publications covering a variety of subjects such as gender, travel and political topics, along with cultural history. After reading her latest work Marxism and Film Activism: Screening Alternative Worlds, I contacted her to ask a few questions about her editing process. She responded enthusiastically and was happy to discuss her projects with us.
Brittany Lowe: What is your favorite aspect of film studies?
Ewa Mazierska: Its ability to engage people from all walks of life and in matters relevant to their everyday existence. Cinema or, widely understood, moving images, is for us truly a mirror of humanity, as well as a great tool to change people’s views.
BL: Tell us a bit about your book in your own words.
EM: The collection is divided into two sections. The first focuses on past images of activism and how we can approach them from a contemporary perspective. The second part deals with more current images of activism. This allows us to compare how filmmakers and viewers used film in political activities in different periods and cultural contexts.
BL: As an editor, how do you decide which articles to include in the book?
EM: The book followed on from a conference that we (myself and Lars Kristensen) organized at the University of Central Lancashire in 2012, called Marx at the Movies. Most of the essays were presented at this conference. Quite early on we could see that many participants strongly engaged with the issue of activism, so it was an obvious topic for our collection.
BL: Explain to me the most challenging aspect of editing the book Marxism and Film Activism?
EM: Almost all chapters were good from the very beginning, so the editing itself was not difficult. Getting the still images sorted, tagged, and ready for printing, however, proved quite a challenge.
BL: Do you think that political activism today has the same impact as it did in the past?
EM: Yes, we think political activism does have a similar impact, but the context has changed and thus our experiences of this impact are different than those in the past. We argue that the event of May 68 was a watershed from this perspective. Before and during May 68, the main goal of left-wing activism was a revolution; after that this goal receded. Nowadays the main purpose of Marxist film activism is overthrowing neoliberalism. The changes in technology also affected activism and part of the collection deals with this issue.
BL: How was the process working with a co-editor on the book Marxism and Film Activism?
EM: We have been working together for a long time and this certainly helped us to complete this book. Knowing each other, sharing interest in Marxism, and respecting our different opinions ensured that there was no serious conflict during the editing stage and everything went smoothly.
BL: Who do you hope to reach with Marxism and Film Activism and what do you want that impact to be?
EM: We hope to reach students and scholars of film theory and film production. It will be great if our collection also reaches ordinary people, as this is the ultimate purpose of Marxist activism, but unfortunately this does not happen often with academic books.
BL: What are you working on next?
EM: Now we are working on a collection on neoliberalism and cinema. This follows from our second Marx at the Movies Conference, organized in 2015.
Author Biography
Brittany Lowe is a senior studying Film Studies and Digital Art at the University at North Carolina Wilmington. As a result of her academic success, she has experience with computer programs such as Maya, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro, along with proficiency in sound recording. She is currently a videographer for Endeavor Expressions, a Wilmington photography company. She is interning with the production company Corey Chandler Productions located in Wilmington, NC, as well.
