The team
Kevin Smets
Principal investigator
Kevin Smets is associate professor at the Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is the coordinator and principal investigator of Reel Borders. More info.
Irene Gutiérrez
PhD researcherIrene Gutiérrez is a PhD fellow and award-winning documentary filmmaker from Ceuta. In the Reel Borders project, she will focus on vernacular border cinema. More info.
Former Affiliates
Yazan Badran
Postdoctoral researcherYazan Badran holds a PhD in media and communication studies. He contributed to data collection and analysis in the Reel Borders project. More info.
Hazar Deniz Eker
Research assistantHazar Deniz Eker contributed to the research on the Turkish-Syrian border region and to the project’s dissemination.
Silvia Almenara Niebla
Postdoctoral researcherSilvia Almenara Niebla holds a PhD in gender and migration studies. In the Reel Borders project, she will concentrate on everyday cinematic experiences of borderlanders, as well as social and political dynamics of borders. More info.
Lennart Soberon
Postdoctoral researcherLennart Soberon holds a PhD in film studies. In the Reel Borders project, he will concentrate on film analysis and data, as well as institutional and audience dynamics. More info.
Nadica Denić
ResearcherNadica Denić is a media scholar and curator. As a short-term researcher for Reel Borders, she will concentrate on cinema and risk. More info.
Administrative support
Christel Vaeremans (VUB Department of Communication Studies)Research interns
Hannah Wilmots Hazar Deniz Eker
Fieldwork partners
University of Granada (Ceuta and Melilla campus): Antonia Olmos AlcarazQueen’s University Belfast: Katy Hayward
Çukurova University Adana: İlke Şanlıer, Aydın Çam, Kıvanç Türkgeldi, Aslı Ilgıt & Özge Nilay Erbalaban Gürbüz