Ashvin Devasundaram, second year PhD student from the School of Management and Languages has won the Edinburgh University Literary Sample Prize 2012. The writing competition was part of a major retrospective on the work of the Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman organised by the French Film Festival UK, University of Edinburgh and the Belgian Tourist Office.
Ashvin reviewed the latest Akerman's film La Folie Almayer (Almayer's Folly) and won an all-expenses paid trip to the Namur International Film Festival (FIFF) in September 2013. His winning review will be published on the University of Edinburgh Film Department website.
Ashvin's research in intercultural studies relates to the growing rise of new independent Indian cinema. His analysis engages with the question of whether these films are catalysing socio-political discourse in the Indian public sphere by mirroring transformations in modern Indian society and culture.