Engelart Willems obtained a master's degree in Communication Sciences from Ghent University, specializing in Film and Television Studies (Summa Cum Laude). His Master's thesis focused on film censorship in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s. His research interests revolve around film history, film policy, and European cinema.
In September 2023, he started working on the European H2020-project "Reviving, Boosting, Optimising, and Transforming European Film Competitiveness (REBOOT)," which is supervised by Prof. Dr. Daniel Biltereyst. This project aims to connect current strengths, address weaknesses, and strategize for future competitiveness across policy, practice, and the overall experience within the European Film Industry.
As of January 2025, he is a PhD fellow of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) conducting research through a joint fellowship at the Centre for Cinema and Media Studies (CIMS, Ghent University) and Social History of Capitalism (SHOC, Vrije Universiteit Brussel). His research is focused on colonial film censorship in the Belgian Congo (1917-1960). Specifically, it examines how censorship was not merely a tool of power exertion, but also a manifestation of broader colonial anxieties.
