Dr Matt Hilborn

Yesterday UCD's Newman Building was transformed by 'Metamorphosis' - a giant inflatable sculpture by Olga Diego. Students & staff drew and performed on this reusable plastic canvas, turning art into a living act of sustainability. Kudos colleagues Ana Vera & Eva Bru-Domínguez! @ucdslcl.bsky.social

Tough Love: Violence and Revenge in Contemporary Spanish Romantic Comedy* This article analyses the trend of violent romantic comedies in Spain that, following the nation’s economic crisis (loosely 2018–2017), swap adoration for marital discord and divorce. Unlike screwb...

📣 Thrilled that my article "Tough Love: Violence and Revenge in Contemporary Spanish Comedy" is out in Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies! I analyse a wave of cynical anti-romcoms - like new film The Roses (2025) - reflecting cynicism and waning couple confidence #filmstudies doi.org/10.1080/2474...

A pulsating panel on self-representing streaming services at ECREA 2025! I spoke about how Netflix Spain comedies about sex & intimacy incorporate Netflix itself into their own diegesis! #loveirishresearch

What an amazing panel on gender and the body in Spanish cinema at @acis46.bsky.social! Thanks to the organisers for such a stimulating conference 😍

Terrific first day of @acis46.bsky.social, sharing conversation and good food with Hispanists from right across the globe! And all in one of my favourite Spanish cities: Santiago de Compostela :)

Awesome! Yes, Duncan is an authority on all things Spanish cinema! I'm planning future episodes and guests now, so watch this space! Thanks for the interest in the pod :)

6. Fe de etarras (Borja Cobeaga, 2017) (with Alison Posey) Palomitas · Episode

NEW Palomitas episode on Fe de etarras (Bomb Scared) (2017)!

We dissect Borja Cobeaga's satire of 4 inept militants trapped in a flat during Spain's 2010 World Cup win ⚽️

With expert Alison Posey

Listen: tinyurl.com/4jt682cw

#PalomitasPodcast #CineEspañol #ETA #Spanishfilm

Haha I'd love to cover as many films as possible - but, alas, time is always the issue! If you'd like to come on the podcast to discuss one of those above, or another you deem particularly important/nuanced, it would be terrific to hold a conversation about it 😀 So far I'm focusing on Spanish cinema

Hi Pete! Thank you for this kind message - I'm so glad that it's come in handy for you and your students! If you have any requests for future episodes, please let me know 😀

📢 Delighted to announce that my book, "Film Comedy and Spain: Humour, Genre, and the Nation 1970-2020", is out!

Get your copy - or ask your library for one - here: www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Film-Comedy-Spain

Thanks to everyone who supported me through this process!

#NewBook #FilmStudies

New Pod!🎙️

Remember the Jenni Hermoso/Luis Rubiales "kiss"?

🎧 Palomitas explores feminist struggles in Spanish docs:
📽️ No estás sola (fighting the "Wolf Pack")
⚽ #SeAcabó (women’s football revolution)
Special guest Dr. Abigail Loxham @abigail
🔗 tinyurl.com/mr3vaz5x

#WomensFootball #MeToo #SeAcabó

So much of the discourse surrounding James Gunn's #Superman reminds me of his Spanish parody, #Superlópez (2018). Extracts from my new book, "Film Comedy and Spain: Humour, Genre, and the Nation 1970-2020"! #superheroes #filmstudies #newbook www.mhra.org.uk/publications...

🚩Wrapping up #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium! Thanks to the brilliant presenters, keynote Mary Harrod, our sponsors @baftss.bsky.social, @officialbaas.bsky.social, @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social & all attendees! Special thanks to my co-organizers @victoriapistivsek.bsky.social & @sarahlahmtv.bsky.social ❤️

🚩Time for our keynote at the #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium! Mary Harrod @warwickfilmtv.bsky.social speaks on romance without ethics in the digital age

🚩Panel 4 - HAPPILY NEVER EVER AFTERS - of #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium twists our happy endings! Queer Qs & Saltburn (Anamarija Horvat) @northumbriauni.bsky.social, Killer Hit Man (Vernon Shetley) @wellesley.edu, Interracial romance (Zélie Asava), reinventing Bergman Island (@cinemariasf.bsky.social)

🚩Panel 3 of the #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium will give us a reality TV check! MAFS & hidden abuse? (Anna Dawson), Decoding lesbian toxicity? (@polinazelm.bsky.social & Ellie Smith) @warwickfilmtv.bsky.social @, Redeemable fboys? (@victoriapistivsek.bsky.social) @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social

🚩Panel 2 of #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium - GENDERED TOXICITIES: Godrèche rediscovered (Catherine Fowler) @universityofotago.bsky.social, toxic motherhood (Lingjun Wang) @leedsunimedia.bsky.social, Ghosting & gaslighting (Martin Hall) @yorkstjohn.bsky.social, Teens, TikTok, & desire (Lorenza Parisi)

🚩Panel 1 of #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium - RED FLAG POLITICS - gets us right into the danger zone! Slaps vs slugs (Catherine Wheatley) @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social, Gentrification in rom-com drag (Harriet Idle), Creep time (Louis Bayman), Tradwife Toxicity (Matthew Hilborn) @ucddublin.bsky.social

🚩The #SpottingRedFlagsSymposium kicks off today @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social! Stay tuned for live updates!
Organized by @victoriapistivsek.bsky.social & @sarahlahmtv.bsky.social & myself
Sponsored by @baftss.bsky.social & @officialbaas.bsky.social & @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social

I was thrilled to launch my book "Film Comedy and Spain" - out next month! - at @humorsofias.bsky.social in Santiago!

The book interrogates Spanish film comedy as a contested site of national identity formation, tracing its evolution from late Francoism to the polarised present!
#FilmStudies

Jilly Kay kick us off at the "Reactionary Politics, Women, and Feminist Critique" symposium at @lborouniversity.bsky.social!

Come to our symposium on Red Flags! 🚩🚩🚩 June 9, 2025 - with keynote from Prof Mary Harrod!

Flavita Banana, cartoonist for El País, kicks us off at @humorsofias.bsky.social 2025!

4. Mi querida cofradía (Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz, 2018) (with Erin K Hogan) Palomitas · Episode

🎙️ Following the conclave (and Conclave)? New #Palomitas digs into feminist farce "Mi querida cofradía" (Marta Díaz, 2018) - where a woman (shock horror!) is determined to win the election to lead her religious order... With expert Erin K Hogan!
#SpanishCinema
shorturl.at/DRkJZ

Late posting, but I had a terrific time at the "Psychobiddies, Harpies and Hags: Interrogating Ageing and Gender on Screen" Symposium at the Watershed, Bristol! Josephine Dolan, Hannah Hamad, Deborah Jermyn, and Estella Tincknell spoke about 'doing age', and the 'double jeopardy' of age + gender

This shot from The White Lotus... It's giving Ophelia - specifically John Everett Millais' 1852 painting.

Want to explore Ophelia's visual legacy, from Vertigo, to Twin Peaks, and beyond?

Ophelia Through Time (2025) - out now tinyurl.com/5b786uhj 📚
#Ophelia #ArtHistory #FilmAnalysis #TheWhiteLotus

🍿 Love Spanish cinema? Meet Palomitas - the English-language podcast on Spanish films with world-class scholars!

🎧 Latest: Holy Camp! (2017), Spanish Affair (2014) (w/ exclusive filmmaker interviews), Volver (2006)
🔥 Coming: Netflix docs on feminisms, Hopelessly Devout (2018)
shorturl.at/TkXXt

Had a fantastic time at #AHGBI2025 @hispanists-ahgbi.bsky.social ! 🎉

Our roundtable explored Marginalised Voices in Iberian TV & Streaming - I focused on romcoms & whose love stories actually get told 💘📺

Now more than ever, sharing time, space, & research with fellow Humanities scholars is vital!

Hi Isabel! A hybrid option may be possible... I'll keep you posted with any updates! Thanks for your interest :)

Professor @sarahwright.bsky.social, President of the @hispanists-ahgbi.bsky.social, kicks us off for AHGBI 2025 at @edinburghup.bsky.social!