This has rapidly become one of my favorite blogs.  Film Studies For Free is more of a reference desk than a blog, where one can find countless links to articles of interest — way more than can be consumed on even a moderately busy schedule.  Every week or so there is a new featured subject in the field of film studies along with a detailed listing of (surely almost) every extant online article that focuses on the particular subject in question.  These links are usually to publications and writers of the highest academic quality, so the reading is often incredibly dense and lengthy.  For the dedicated and hungry film studies researcher this is a treasure trove.

The site is curated by Catherine Grant, who is a visiting research fellow at the University of  Sussex.  According to her faculty page her current research focuses on three areas: film studies research by practice with digital video essays; film directing in contemporary world cinema; recognition as concept in audiovisual culture.  Grant is clearly one of those academics who has fully-embraced online/digital media and as such, has created a web resource that is indispensable.

The look of the blog is pedestrian, which serves well to get out of the way of the compelling content it is trying to funnel.  Most importantly, the blog is frequently updated and continually has a fresh crop of information that rewards consistent checking.

Film Studies For Free does not just aggregate links to online collections of writing but also features video clips and other media content.  An extensive Philoctetes Center (New York) roundtable discussion on Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” was featured recently, along with the obligatory collection of articles that focus on this film.  Archived videos of academic film discussions such as this one can be of great interest and one hopes that Grant will devote more attention to indexing such material.

Also of interest on this blog is the practice of indexing and archiving PhD dissertations, many of which normally do not see the light of day, despite their multi-layered and relevant inquiry into a particular topic.  Of course, in the internet age and the age of self-publishing online, these are no longer days in which creative content remains cloaked in obscurity forever.  Even so, it takes websites such as this to help lead one through the wilderness and arrive at destinations that one did not even know existed for the immense amount of digital noise that often overcomes cyberspace.

Knowing where to look is often more important than knowing what to look for in the online age of information overload.  With websites like Film Studies For Free, one is often treated to new discoveries that open up surprising new areas of interest and satisfy latent curiosity.  In short, this blog is a must for any rigorous student of film studies or lover of advanced cinematic criticism.

http://filmstudiesforfree.blogspot.com/