Joanna Wright

In addition to teaching I am a filmmaker and creative producer, working in Wales and internationally. 

I work with documentary film, photography, sound and archive collections, often working in collaboration with communities to produce projects that re-examine established narratives. My work has been screened internationally, including at the Institute for Contemporary Art, The British Film Institute, British Council, Channel 4 and BBC.  

Current work includes a longitudinal, multi media project documenting the final decommissioning of the Nuclear Power station in Trawsfynydd, supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales and a cross media collaboration commissioned by BBC's digital arts platform The Space. I was was the recipient of an Arts Council of Wales award to work with The UK’s Centre for Alternative Technology, as long term artist in residence with their Zero Carbon Britain Research project. In 2015 I was awarded the Theodore Randall International Chair in Art and Design at Alfred University, New York.

I graduated from the UK’s National Film and Television School with an MA in Documentary direction, and a BA in Fine Art from the University of the Arts, London (Camberwell College of Art) Prior to studying at the National Film School I worked as an art director and designer for award winning TV, film and Theatre projects, based in New York. I am a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and am a current fellow of the MIT Open Documentary Lab.

I am the course leader for MA Film at Bangor, where I teach the pratice modules and the dissertation project. I am the external moderator for university validated MA & BA fine art courses.

I have also taught across creative media production modules for the BA courses, fine art, documentary theory and history, creative practice, emerging documentary methods and artist moving image. I supervise undergraduate film dissertation projects and am co-supervisor for art and documentary practice based PhD work.

Students on the modules I teach have won a number of prestigious awards and nominations, including BAFTA Cymru, and multiple nominations at the Royal Television Society, both in Wales and the UK. In 2018 MA students were in the top 3 at the National Royal Television Society awards in Camera, Editing and best short feature, as well 3 finalists & best documentary film at the Welsh Student Film Festival, Ffresh. In 2020 film students won best sound and best postgraduate work in the RTS Cymru awards.

I was the lead tutor for the BFI Academy documentary programme that ran in Bangor in 2014/15 and was nominated for best education project in the National Lottery Awards.

I work as a visting teacher at institutions internationally, including the European Film College, and the State University of New York, where I was appointed Randall Chair in Art and Design in 2015.

I research documentary filmmaking, emerging documentary methods, artist moving image, under represented communities in the creative industries and creative practice pedagogy.

My work as a filmmaker has been broadcast on BBC and Channel 4, and exhibited internationally, including at the British Film Institute, The British Council, The Institute for Contemporary Art London, IDFA Amsterdam, True/ False USA and at the United Nations. 

Current practice based projects include a cross media documentary supported by the British Film Institute & Ffilm Cymru Wales and interactive documentary/ art project Two Itinerant Quilters, commissioned by the BBC & UK Arts Council digital initiative The Space. I am currently a fellow with MIT's Open Documentary Lab http://opendoclab.mit.edu/introducing-mit-opendoclab-2020-2021-fellows/