Staff
Tony Grace
MA, MLitt
Lecturer in Film and Television
tony.grace@uws.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1292 886481;
Fax: +44 (0) 1292 886371
Room: Ayr Campus, D208
Profile
Tony has been a Lecturer in Film and Television with UWS since 1998 and will lead the forthcoming MA/PG Dip programme in Creative Media Practice. His practice-based research formed part of the School of Creative and Cultural Industries’s highly successful submission in RAE 2008. This included the BAFTA nominated feature documentary Orwell: Against the Tide for George Orwell’s centenary in 2003, featuring interviews with Noam Chomsky and Richard Rorty. Tony developed, wrote and co-produced this documentary which was broadcast throughout Europe and screened at many international film festivals. In 2008, the documentary DVD, The World of Sociology, directed and co-produced by Tony, was distributed to 1600 schools with 6th forms in the UK by The British Sociological Association. The production features contributions from sociologists across Europe and was recently cited as an example of good practice in Knowledge Transfer in an ESRC report. Current funded research projects include Finding the Seam a documentary on the history of mining in South-West Scotland as seen through the poetry of Rab Wilson, and Sculpture and Context for which he has filmed locations in Europe and Japan.
Research Interests
George Orwell: Politics & Literature / Documentary Forms & Production Post-colonialism / External Activities / Representations of war; Design and the Totalitarian State / physical contexts of sculpture.
Production Experience
Currently writing and co-producing a biographical documentary on George Orwell with Pelicula Films. Co-production/ funding partners include Scottish Screen, Scottish Television, TV3 Catalunya, History Channel Iberia, YLE2 TV ( Finland), NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), RTE (Ireland), VRT (Belgium).
Awarded Media development funding from EU - Development phase has included selection for pitch presentations at Docs Barcelona, Nordisk Forum, and NRW in Cologne where project was successfully pitched. Other elements of the development phase included script development and interviews with Noam Chomsky and Richard Rorty.
Conference Papers
(2009) Finding the Seam [film] Practice Panel, MeCCSA.
(2001) “George Orwell: The Reluctant Scot to SMACA 2001 - currently finalising paper for publication on George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War.
Publications
Grace, T. & Burnett, K. (forthcoming) “Community, Cultural Resource and Media: Reflecting on Research Practice” in Notions of Community: A Collection of Community Media Debates and Dilemmas, Janey Gordon (Ed), Peter Lang AG)
Scottish Archaeological Review – (1986) Archaeology through the Viewfinder
Theoretical Archaeology Group (1987) - published conference proceedings “Fast Forwarding into the Past”
Teaching
Modules developed and delivered include several video production modules across the university, Design for Television, Documentary, Film and the Novel, Media Representations.
Current teaching input includes Visual Culture; Reading design; Contemporary European
Cinema
Practice-Based Work
(2008) Finding the Seam a feature documentary focusing the cultural heritage of Coal Mining in South West Scotland through the poetry of Rab Wilson, former miner and Winner of the Mc cash Prize for Scots Poetry
(2008) BSA DVD –“ World of Sociology” Selected as an exemplar of good practice in Knowledge Transfer, featured as a case study in the ESRC/AcSS project on Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement – report published as “Developing Dialogue” Learned Societies in the Social Sciences: Developing Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement. BSA designate DVD as key marketing tool for Sociology across the UK distribute the DVD to 1600 schools across the UK with 6th forms
- Conference Papers: – Meccsa 2008 – with Kathryn Burnett – paper/DVD presentation on Kildonan ICA worshops
- BUFVC Learning on Screen Conference – “Producing the World of Sociology”
- MEG, St John’s College Oxford – DVD presentation edited from footage of Kildonan ICA Workshsops
(2007) Directed and co-produced short documentary on DVD on Feis Film nan Eileanan Beaga.Small Islands Film Festival 2007 – Screened at AHRC funded Islands Cultural Archives Workshops in September 2007
(2005-6) Directed and produced promotional documentary for British Sociological Association – “The World of Sociology” featuring interviews with Anne van Lancker MEP at the European Parliament, Professor Angela McRobbie, Professor Greg Philo and Professor Mark Elchardus (vfB brussels). Screened at plenary session, BSA conference, Harrogate International Conference Centre.
(2005) Directed and Produced “Defying Fate” – DVD archiving premiere performce of ballet composed by Eddie McGuire featuring Scottish and Chinese musicians and dancers
(2004) Sculpture in Context. Practice as Research project with seed funding from the faculty of Education and Media on Filmed Henry Moore retorspective at Tate Modern and collection at Henry Moore Foundation with interviews from curator and Henry Moore’s assistant. Programme of filming of Glnkiln sculptures. Made presentation to School of Media research group and brief presentation at research day
(2004) Orwell-Against the Tide nominated by BAFTA Scotland for Best Feature Documentary. Special Mention at Philadelphia Documentary and Fiction Festival. Other international Festival showings include OXDOCS 2005, Montreal Festival of Films on Art (2006), Pärnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival, Finland (2005)
(2003) Development Producer, Writer/Co-producer and historical consultant on Orwell- Against the Tide with Pelicula Films.
(1988 – 1996) Director – Life’s Rich Tapestry Ltd. Producing and Directing documentary, educational and corporate productions for heritage and arts organisations such as the Museum of London, Glasgow Museums, British Sociological Association, Historic Scotland, Aberdeen Museums and Art Galleries,
In addition, produced and directed many arts based documentary projects such as:
- “The Fleet Valley Project “ (1990) - The Museum of London - (Urban archaeology project)
- “Message from Bosnia - A Video Journal” (1995) - Ian McColl & Peter Howson , Official War Artists
- “Motorway to the Past - The Archaeology of South West Scotland” (1994) - Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division/ Scottish Office/ Historic Scotland - (Excavation - reconstruction of ancient landscape in advance of major motorway extension)
- " Milestones for Scotland” (1996) - Glasgow Sculpture Studios/Council for Sport and the Arts- (promotional information video on commissioning public sculpture)
- “Sociology II” (1996)- Updated, revised and extended version of “So What’s Sociology Anyway”(1990) for British Sociological Association funded from world wide video sales.
- “The Veil in Glasgow” (1997) - 25 minute documentary on Muslim Women for Glasgow Museums