Matthew Alford

Matthew Alford teaches Film & Media, International Relations, and British & American politics.  He is a Fellow of the HEA.

His PhD thesis applied Noam Chomsky's Propaganda Model to contemporary Hollywood and his subsequent research similarly concerns the representation of Western exceptionalism.

Dr. Alford's first documentary feature film and novel, The Writer with No Hands, followed his investigation into the disappearance of a Hollywood screenwriter.  It premiered in 2014 at Hot Docs, Toronto and received three wins and numerous nominations at festivals worldwide.  He has been collaborating with theatrical directors at Bath Spa University and the University of Lincoln to present this story on stage. 

Alford's second documentary is currently in production and provisonally titled Theatres of Command:  The Military Occupation of Hollywood.  The project is based on his co-authored book National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood.  It also draws on his latest research trip to the Department of Defense's film archive in Washington DC, which has already resulted in a new preface to the foreign language translations of his debut book Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy. 

Dr. Alford has also frequently provided classes and guest talks elsewhere, notably at New York University, the University of Bristol, University of Portsmouth - and also at the University of Birmingham, where he had previously received a Masters with distinction in History, Film and Television. 

He recently co-authored the book Union Jackboot:  What Your Media and Professors Won't Tell You About British Foreign Policy.