Film Lecturer / Critic / Maker

BCA (Hons), PhD (The University of Melbourne)

Josh Nelson has worked as a lecturer and tutor within The University of Melbourne since 2002, during which time he has also lectured at Victoria University and worked as an examiner for Monash University. Josh also has experience lecturing to VCE students on a number of film and media related topics.

A film still from "Libido Ex Machina", a film by Josh Nelson and Rohan Spong.

As a freelance film critic, Josh regularly produces reviews for a variety of publications and has appeared both on radio (3RRR) and television (Channel 31) to discuss issues related to the media.

In his teaching, Josh combines a number of important and relevant approaches in his discussion of cinema, often drawing on issues of politics, cultural theory, and philosophy, through his examination of filmic form, style, genre and composition.

Josh’s lectures convey his passion for cinema by providing students with an enthusiastic and accessible means of examining film, aimed at opening up the texts to a variety of meanings, interpretations, and analytical approaches. This method has proven highly successful and Josh has received commendations for his teaching while at The University of Melbourne.

In 2008, Josh successfully completed his PhD thesis entitled, ‘Ruptures & Regenerations: Violence, Trauma, and Male Subjectivity in American Cinema (1976-2004)’ which was nominated for a Chancellor’s Prize by the examiners Susan Jeffords and Yvonne Tasker, two prominent academics in his field.

Josh has also written and directed a number of short films, including ‘Libido Ex Machina’ (Desire in the Machine) which he co-wrote and directed with Rohan Spong, and which premiered at the 2009 Melbourne Underground Film Festival.

Topics / Films

Josh is equipped to speak on all films that appear on the VCE Text List, and with notice, any other films being studied by students in secondary school.

"Josh was a great success.  Many students have commented on how organised and straightforward he was in his presentation.  His presentation often put a number of shots on one slide which really helped to emphasise similarities and differences.  All was great … Josh will be most welcome again."
 – Claire Dowley
BA (Hons), Grad. Dip. Ed., MA
Head of English Faculty
Geelong Grammar School

" Josh Nelson was asked to present a lecture on Look Both Ways for our year 12 girls at Lowther Hall.  He was able to tailor his lecture beautifully both to the needs of the students and to the requirements of the VCE study design.  Josh was very well prepared and his knowledge of this particular film and his capability to weave in references to other films was impressive. 
Most particularly, he communicated clearly and was able to open the students’ eyes in an entertaining way to the ways in which filmmakers communicate to their audience.  He confidently showed them how to develop differing interpretations of genre, camera angles and shots, characterisation, editing, symbols and other visual and aural aspects of the film.
The staff and students were delighted with the way that he was able to intelligently and thoroughly dissect specific scenes and relate these to an overall interpretation of the film.  At all times his presentation was engaging and accessible, but Josh was also able to challenge the most able students to refine their own thinking to develop a more sophisticated and better substantiated viewpoint.  At the end of the session he was willing to stay longer than we had negotiated to fully answer a number of diverse questions on the film.
As a teacher who has attended numerous film lectures in my 25 years teaching, Josh was the equal or superior to any of the presentations that I have attended.  I am very keen to secure his services for next year’s students and would envisage using Josh’s services in a broader role to discuss film analysis at other year levels."
– Glenn Harris
Head of English Faculty
Lowther Hall Anglican Girls School