Matthew Alford

Dr. Matthew Alford MPhil FHEA is a Teaching Fellow who teaches on media theory, International Relations, and British and American politics. 

His PhD thesis applied Noam Chomsky's Propaganda Model to contemporary Hollywood and his subsequent research similarly focuses on the representation of exceptionalism in the West.

Dr. Alford's documentary feature film and novel, The Writer with No Hands, critically engages conspiracy theory discourse while examining CIA and US military public relations activity in the entertainment industry.  The documentary premiered in 2014 at Hot Docs, Toronto and received 3 wins and eight further nominations at festivals worldwide. A TV edit of the movie began selling to national platforms in 2018.  

His latest research trip to the Department of Defense's film archive in Washington DC resulted in a new preface to the foreign language translations of his debut book Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy.   He has recently co-authored the books National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood and Union Jackboot:  What Your Media and Professors Won't Tell You About British Foreign Policy. 

Dr. Alford has provided regular guest lectures on film and storytelling at the 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 is currently collaborating with theatrical directors at Bath Spa University and the University of Lincoln to present his work on stage.