Dr Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk

Dr. Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Film and Media Studies, and director of the African Cinema Unit at the University of Cape Town. He has published widely on the filmmaker Terrence Malick (the subject of his PhD), as well as South African film, wildlife documentary and literary fiction. He is currently working on early South African cinema and film cultures in South Africa.

As Director of the African Cinema Unit, he teaches in the MA in African Cinema and is also involved in developing postgraduate scholarship in African and South African screen studies. He is also a member of the Environmental Humanities South research program at the University of Cape Town where he is investigating climate change communication in Africa.

In 2013, he received a Distinguished Teacher’s Award from the University of Cape Town, and in 2014 a National Excellence in Teaching award from the Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association of South Africa.

He is a fanatical birder and registered atlasser with the South African Bird Atlas project. One day he would like to see a Wandering Albatross.