Martens Emiel

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Dr. Emiel Martens, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam e.s.martens@uva.nl

 

Emiel Martens is an Assistant Professor in Media and Culture Studies at the University of Amsterdam and the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he has specialized in postcolonial film, tourism and migration. He recently completed Gifts from Babylon (2018, 24 min), a short film exploring the psychological impact and family crisis casued by illegal Africa-EU migration through the eyes of a deported Gambian return migrant. The film has been shot in the Gambia, with a small Dutch-Gambian crew, and has received its world premiere last year at the Nederlands Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles last February (in competition for best narrative short).

 

Over the past three years I have been invited to various conferences to present Welcome to the Smiling Coast (www.welcometothesmilingcoast.com) a feature-length documentary about Gambian tourism, development and migration that I produced in 2016. If your budget allows, I could also come to your conference to do the same. If that's not possible, and you are interested in screening Gifts from Babylon, we could still try to include the film in the conference, with or without me being present on the scene. If interested, I could send you an online screener so that you can watch the film.

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Gifts from Babylon (www.giftsfrombabylon.com) is a short film exploring the psychological impact of Africa-EU migration through the lens of a Gambian return-migrant. The film captures the personal conflicts that arise when Modou, a deported refugee, returns to his home country after having lived illegally in Europe for five years. Suffering from intense flashbacks of his traumatic migrant journey, he wonders what has become of him…

Dr. Emiel Martens | Assistant Professor | Department of Media Studies | University of Amsterdam | Turfdraagsterpad 9 | 1012 XT Amsterdam | The Netherlands | e.s.martens@uva.nl | www.uva.nl/en/profile/m/a/e.s.martens/e.s.martens

 

Other things on the to-do list

Postdoc researcher @ ESSHCC

Founding director @ Caribbean Creativity

Creative director @ Dudes in your Face

Board member @ IDleaks

Board member @ Ammehoela Film Festival

Film review editor @ ERLACS

 

Current events and projects

Reggae Vibrations | Afrolijk | Ciesta | DocuDoka | Welcome to the Smiling Coast | Gifts from Babylon