The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) awards Dr. Valeria Villegas Lindvall with the Early Career Award 2023
With a unique focus on lesser-studied film genres (horror, terror, sci-fi, fantasy) in Latin American and world cinema, Valeria Villegas Lindvall, doctor in Film Studies and lecturer at the Department of Cultural Sciences, has been announced as the recipient of the Early Career Award 2023 by the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), presented by the Film Studies section.
- I was very pleasantly surprised to get the news about this award. I'm very grateful to know that my work has a positive impact in the field and is opening possibilities to highlight the work of women and racialized peoples not only in academic circles, but also in terms of horror and fantasy film production. It is a joy to engage with the possibilities of Latin American audiovisual culture, and to be able to make a contribution deemed significant by my peers in the field, Valeria says.
The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) is the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America and annually arranges LASA International Congress, the world’s premier forum for expert discussion on Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Villegas Lindvall will accept the reward at the 2023 LASA Congress in Vancouver on May 25th.
- I will receive the award in Vancouver at the LASA Congress, where I will be presenting a paper on magic and Mexican visual culture. To bring my knowledge to Canada and examine the ways in which we can think about brujería (witchcraft) and tradition as forms to subvert oppression, and being granted the award in that frame fills me with hope and joy to continue antipatriarchal, anticapitalist and antiracist critique, Valeria says.
The announcement by the Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
Since receiving her Ph.D. in Film Studies from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) in 2021, Dr. Valeria Villegas Lindvall has maintained an active publication record with a variety of book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and essays in public-facing magazines and journals including Screen-Queens.com. The committee found Dr. Villegas Lindvall’s essays, “Me quitarán de quererte, Llorona, pero de olvidarte nunca.’ La Llorona, colonial trauma and Mexicanness” and “Sem medo de lobisomem: Subversion, intimacy and animality. As Boas Maneiras (2017)” to be engaging and timely, combining detailed cinematographic analysis with a unique focus on lesser-studied genres (horror, terror, sci-fi, fantasy) in Latin American cinema and in world cinema more broadly. Dr. Villegas Lindvall’s innovative scholarly approach deploys decolonial and feminist theoretical frameworks to center her analysis of Afro-descendant and Indigenous representations in contemporary cinema from a variety of regions in the Global South. Her research amplifies the voices and work of female, Indigenous and Latinx/a scholars, and shows great promise for a career in Film Studies. Furthermore, Dr. Villegas Lindvall’s CV demonstrates a commitment to sharing her research both within and beyond LASA’s scholarly community, through conference presentations, her editorial work at MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture, film festival participation, and digital media collaborations.
Read more about the award and LASA here
Text: Linnéa Saaranen