Dr Babar Hussain is a Lecturer in Filmmaking at the School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University. He holds a PhD in Film Studies from the University of the Arts London and an MSc in Digital Film Technologies and Production, combining rigorous theoretical research with a strong foundation in filmmaking practice.
His research centres on Global South cinemas, with a particular focus on gender, masculinity, Islamic feminism and postcolonial representation. His forthcoming monograph, Masculinities in Contemporary Pakistani Cinema (2028) is rooted in his PhD research and offers a critical interrogation of how Pakistan’s ruling elite has strategically deployed political Islam as an ideological instrument and how this politicisation has profoundly shaped, policed, and contested the construction of masculinity in Pakistani society and its cinema. The book traces these power dynamics across decades of filmmaking, arguing that the screen has become a contested site where dominant and marginalised masculinities are simultaneously produced and challenged.
As an educator from the Global South Dr Hussain brings both lived experience and substantial industry grounding into his teaching, equipping students with the critical thinking, cultural competence and creative skills to succeed in an increasingly interconnected media landscape.
