Dr Julia Cain

Dr. Julia Cain is a lecturer at the Centre for Film & Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. She convenes the documentary production-focused honours programme Film Theory & Practice, its core courses, and the 3rd year undergraduate screen production Senior Research Project.

She is UCT’s representative on the Free Film School community engagement initiative, a special member of the Documentary Filmmakers Association, and the convenor of the UCT partnership with the African World Documentary Film Festival.

Julia is passionate about documentary film, teaching and learning, and developing South African creatives. Her students’ films have screened at various festivals and platforms nationally and internationally and won various awards. She has a deep concern with ethics in creative practice that she brings to her teaching work and also serves on the UCT Humanity Faculty’s Research Ethics Committee.

Her research interests are embedded in her practice and include South African documentary and filmmaking ethics, co-creation and creative collaboration, and teaching and learning pedagogies.

She previously had her own production company that specialised in educational video for local and international NGOs and government and most recently completed training videos for the World Bank (2020).