was Head of the National Film Archive collection of stills, posters and original designs, Head of Programming at the National Film Theatre and Director of the London Film Festival. She has written extensively in film journals, The Guardian, The Observer and Times Higher Educational Supplement. She co-edited Life and art: the new Iranian cinema (BFI 1999) and An Argentine Passion: the films of Maria Luisa Bemberg (Verso 2000). She is Advisory Editor to I.B.Tauris for film publications, was Founder Editor of Writing Women, a journal of women’s writing, and curated two programmes of Palestinian cinema at the ICA. She is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt) by the University of Newcastle and an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the University of Warwick.