24 March 2015, 13:00, Birkbeck Cinema
 
For the first Essay Film Festival’s opening event, we invited four leading scholars and critics who have made important contributions to the current debate about the vibrancy of the essay film tradition in contemporary film and moving image culture.
 
The speakers each addressed the question “Why the essay film now?” from their respective angles. The panel was then followed by general discussion with questions from the floor. 
 
Panel: 
•	Christa Blümlinger (University Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis, author of Cinéma de seconde main: esthétique du remploi dans l’art du film et des nouveaux medias, Klincksieck: 2013)
•	Catherine Grant (University of Sussex, founder of Film Studies for Free, and editor of REFRAME)
•	Laura Rascaroli (University of Cork, author of The Personal Camera: Subjective Cinema and the Essay Film, Wallflower: 2009)
•	Igor Krstic (postdoctoral researcher on accented essay films, University of Reading, and convenor of “World Cinema and the Essay Film” conference at University of Reading, 30 April–2 May 2015)