Name : John Burgan
Job Title : Senior Lecturer / Programme Leader
Email Address : john.burgan@newport.ac.uk
Contact Telephone Number : 01633 43 5370
Academic Faculty and School or Department : Documentary Film & TV, Newport Film School
Research Centre or Group : Documentary Film Research Group
Biography : Born in London in 1962, John grew up in East Yorkshire
and started his career as a picture editor at the BBC. After film school he
lived in Berlin, Germany between 1992-2006 working as a freelance writer,
director and editor as well as five years teaching filmmaking at the University of the Arts. As well as workshops in Istanbul and Hamburg, John ran the documentary course at the European Film College in Denmark for two years before returning to the UK in 2008. He is currently developing creative projects and collaborations with China and Denmark.
Academic and Professional Qualifications :

ACADEMIC
- National Film & Television School, Beaconsfield (1992) MA/MFA equivalent
- BA (Hons) English Language & Literature, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1984)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2010 – 2011 SKILLSET ACADEMI + Development Programme
Leadership for Creative Business Workshop Series
2010 SKILLSET ACADEMI + Development Programme
Film Junction Producer Workshop Series
2008 SOURCES 2 Advanced Training Programme (Malmö, Sweden)Training Mentors for Documentary Filmmakers Workshop
2007 National Film School of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark)Negotiating Production Deals Workshop
1994 – 2006 European Film Academy (Berlin, Germany)
Various workshops on creative practice & media business
1992 – 1993 Nipkow Programme (Berlin, Germany)
12 month Fellowship for Audio-Visual Professionals (MEDIA)

Professional Bodies and Memberships :
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
- National Executive, NAHEMI (National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image)
- Newport Film School representative at CILECT (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision / International Association of Film and Television Schools).

Research Expertise or Interest : Documentary Filmmaking / Essay Film
Publications :

Films
- POWER & PLACE (2010)
  Video essay on sustainable energy commissioned by the Centre for Alternative Technology, Powys, Wales. Collaboration with Aberystwyth University's Department of Theatre, Film & TV. Previewed at the Wales Smithsonian Cymru event in Washington DC.
- FRIENDLY ENEMY ALIEN (ZDF 2006)
  Feature-length documentary. Parallel stories of German and Afghan refugees in Australia.
- BEHIND WORDS (MDR/Network Migration, 2005)
  Feature-length documentary. Forced migration and ethnic cleansing in twentieth century Europe.
- MEMORY OF BERLIN (ZDF 1998)
  Feature-length documentary essay. Part autobiography, part city portrait.
- CHEKHOV'S CLOSE-UPS (European Film Academy/Nipkow Programme, 1995)
  Masterclass for actors with Istvan Szabo & Tilda Swinton.

Articles/books as author / translator

Selected commentary from Memory of Berlin published in "Grand Street/Berlin", quarterly magazine dedicated to art, poetry, short stories and non-fiction (New York: Grand Street, 1999).
'Robert Vas', 'Jean-Pierre Gorin' and 'The Back of Beyond', entries in the "Encyclopaedia of the Documentary Film" ed. Ian Aitken. (New York and London: Routledge, 2006)
“Making choices: some thoughts on documentary and fiction” in “Final Cut” Yearbook of the European Film College (2007)
As translator (from German to English): "Dreams this Side of the Real," in “Gottfried Salzmann” by Nikolaus Schaffer (Paris, Thalia Edition, 2006).

Public Engagement Activities and Esteem Indicators :
- MEMORY OF BERLIN, prize-winning feature-length film debut recently screened at the BFI Southbank in London, also in Berlin and Barcelona on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.
- Works as script consultant, consulting producer & mentor
- See http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jburgan

University Of South Wales