Dr. Rowenna Baldwin
Dr Rowenna Baldwin is an academic researcher and filmmaker, who leads our research-focused modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level here at MetFilm School Manchester. She enjoys supervising student dissertations on a wide variety of topics linked to their filmmaking interests and specialisms, helping our students delve deeper into the film industry, its history, and impact on society.
Rowenna obtained her PhD in Sociology in 2011 from the University of Warwick before going on to work in research roles at Manchester Metropolitan University and The University of Lancashire (formerly the University of Central Lancashire). She has worked on international research projects funded by the European Union and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Her work has allowed her to travel to Russia, Malaysia, Ghana, and Colombia, as well as across Europe.
In 2016, Rowenna undertook a secondment to Channel 4 News as part of her British Science Association Media Fellowship, with the aim of fostering better communication between the worlds of academic research and the mass media. This enjoyable experience inspired her to retrain in Documentary Filmmaking at the Northern Film School in Leeds, thus combining her social research skills with her love of films.
Rowenna won the award of Best Female Director at the Satisfied Eye Film Festival for her short documentary, ‘Goodnight, Friend’, and won Best Short Film at the Hebden Bridge Film Festival for ‘We Are All Migrants’, which she produced and directed.
As well as documentaries, Rowenna has an interest in Russian cinema and history, inspired by studying the language and her time living there. She recently translated and co-edited the memoir of a Russian expat living at an Indian royal court during World War II, entitled ‘The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky (1938-1945)’, published by Oxford University Press, which she now plans to develop as a documentary film.
Outside of teaching at MetFilm, Rowenna works as a freelance filmmaker and videographer, collaborating with local production companies and working with her own clients in the private, public, and charity sectors through her company, Hare Moon Films. She enjoys being able to multi-task through this work, often juggling production management tasks with fast-paced camera operating, editing, and directing documentary-style promotional projects. She also loves interviewing people and enjoys stepping in front of the camera, where she can often be seen hosting social media content for local arts events and international brands, such as Europcar. She has even been known to don a costume or two in the spirit of pitching in and getting a project over the finish line.
