Prof. Dr. Skadi Loist is Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) for Production Cultures in Audiovisual Media Industries at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam, Germany. Skadi’s research focusses on film festivals & circulation, queer film culture, and screen industries, diversity and sustainability.  

Skadi is Principle Investigator (PI) of the research project “Film Circulation on the International Film Festival Network and the Impact on Global Film Culture” (BMBF 2017–2022) as well as Lead PI of the international research project “GEP Analysis: Assessing, Understanding, and Modeling the Impact of Gender Equity Policies (GEP) in the Film Industry” (DFG/ESRC/SSHRC 2021–2024),

Skadi held prior positions as lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Media Research at the University of Rostock (2014-2018) and as part-time lecturer and PhD candidate at the University of Hamburg (2008-2013).

Previous projects include “Who directs German feature films: Gender report 2009-2013” (with Elizabeth Prommer, 2015). Together with Deb Verhoeven (University of Alberta, Edmonton), she established the International Screen Industries Consortium (ISICon), an international network of screen industry researchers and organizations to analyze the relative position of women in film industries across the globe. Skadi has co-developed the workshop “Beyond Stereotypes: Gender-Conscious Storytelling”, a cooperation of the Erich Pommer Institute, the MaLisa foundation and the Film University.

Skadi’s work has been published in German, English and French in Screen, NECSUS, Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft, Scope, Diogène, Alphaville, Studies in European Cinema, Media Industries Journal and numerous edited volumes and journals. Skadi has (co-)edited several special issues on Gendered Film Industries (2019), German Media Industries Studies (2018), Queer/ing Film Festivals (2018) and the European University Film Award (EUFA) project (2017) as well as the pioneering textbook Film Festivals: History, Theory, Method, Practice (with Marijke de Valck & Brendan Kredell, Routledge 2016), as well as Sexy Media? Gender/Queertheoretische Analysen in den Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften (with Sigrid Kannengießer & Joan K. Bleicher, transcript 2013) and Bildschön: 20 Jahre Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg (with Dorotheé von Diepenbroick, Männerscharm 2009).

Skadi believes in the power of networking and collaboration. Together with Marijke de Valck, Skadi founded the Film Festival Research Network (FFRN) in 2008, which connects more than 700 researchers and practitioners in the field.  Skadi is a former Steering Committee member of the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) (2015-2021) and active founding member of the NECS workgroup “Film Festival Research” (2008-), was inaugural co-chair of the “Film & Media Festivals” Scholarly Interest Group at SCMS (2011-2013), was inaugural co-chair of the “AG Medienindustrien” of the Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft (GfM) (2012-2021), and serves as Editorial Board member of NECSUS_European Journal of Media Studies.

Outside the academy, Skadi has long worked with the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival and was inaugural board member of QueerScope e.V., the association of Independent German Queer Film Festivals.