Name
Eli Dolliver
College
St John’s College
Supervisor
Dr. Georgina Evans
Research topic
Cautionary Tales and Consolatory Fables – Folklore and the Horror Film
About
I’m a first year PhD student from Ireland, studying at the Cambridge Film & Screen. Before coming to Cambridge, I undertook a BA in Film and Screen Studies in my hometown at University College Cork Ireland, with a minor in English literature, and then a MSc in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh. In Edinburgh I completed my Master’s thesis: “Béaloideas agus Blockbusters: Supernatural Irish Mythology in the Movies”, which is about representations of Irish folklore in horror and fantasy cinema. I also have industry experience in film festival work, film journalism, and film production!
Research
My research here at Cambridge is about the meaningful parallels between horror cinema and folklore, focusing particularly on the idea that the folk and fairy story is not lost alongside pre-literature cultures, but rather survives in modern filmic reincarnations that maintain the vital social functions of folklore by communicating social norms and popular cultural preoccupations. The horror film becomes the flickering celluloid folktale; a storytelling medium for the modern age, with all the social, moral, and cultural impact that that entails. Some other research interests of mine broadly include popular culture, folkloristics, genre theory, science fiction, horror, feminist film theory, and anything at all surrounding the relationship between storytelling and popular belief.
Scholarships/ Prizes
2022 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Training Programme full scholarship for doctoral research
2022 Honorary Robert Gardiner Memorial Scholarship
2018 & 2017 UCC Quercus College Scholar – Film and Screen Media
2018 Puttnam Scholarship in film production
Film Awards: 2021: “Gadget & The Cloud – It Never Felt Right” Music Video Awarded Best Cinematography at the Shot by the Sea Festival, “Lovestruck” nominated for Best of Cork Award at the Cork International Film Festival, “Chloe” screened in competition at the Cork Independent Film Festival and the Fastnet Schull Film Festival.
Quercus Entrance Scholarship
Pfizer Perpetual Trophy for Academic Excellence
Conferences
“Gräns (2018), Borders, and J.J. Cohen’s Monster Theory”, Borders, Boundaries, Fringes. The Sheffield Centre for Research in Film (SCRIF) Annual Symposium, Sheffield University, June 2023.
“Independent Irish Folk Horror and the Productions of Fantastic Films”, Fear 2000, Sheffield Hallam University, July 2023.
Other activities and roles
Previewer for the International Shorts category of the 2020 Cork International Film Festival, adjudicator for the Youth Jury Award in 2018. Frequent contributor of film reviews and features for The Indiependent. Video Production Intern at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra 2021.
