Kia Afra

Having trained in cinematography and sound, Kia Afra started in post-production at the turn of the millennium during the transition to digital media, HDTV, and 5.1 surround sound. He learned the craft of sound editing and worked in the Vancouver film and TV industry for several years before pursuing a career as a film scholar at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and TV and at Brown University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

Throughout his career, he has gained an appreciation for film studies and film production as converging disciplines. Likewise, his approach to research and teaching places emphasis on the role of filmmakers and producers and asks questions such as how and why are films made, what institutional and industrial forces are acting on the film industry, and what is the precise production history behind the development of film style throughout the course of cinema? In such ways, he attempts to understand traditional concepts in film studies and film theory through the perspective of film production and reception.