About the GCVA
Pioneers in Anthropology Beyond Text
Since the GCVA’s creation in 1987, we have been the world’s leading centre for visual anthropology and ethnographic film. We are now also at the forefront of sensory ethnography and experimental methods through sound, photography, performance and installations, and of dialogues between art and anthropology.
We provide researchers and students with training and resources to explore the sensory dimensions of social life and the intangible aspects of human experience. We also believe that anthropology beyond text can enable deeper collaborations between researchers and participants, and help us to reach diverse audiences outside of academia.
Our Master’s and PhD programmes combine anthropology with practical training in filmmaking, editing, photography and sound recording. Our students are supported by internationally renowned staff and provided with professional equipment. We welcome students from across the social sciences and humanities. Our courses are tailored to meet the needs of different levels of anthropological and media-making experience, from complete beginners to established professionals.
Our staff and students have access to a variety of cameras and sound equipment for their research, which are maintained by a team of technicians.
The GCVA also has one dedicated technician who delivers personalised equipment and editing advice.
Our MA programme is one of the few that equips each student with a camera and sound kit for their final project.
The GVCA Lab includes a screening room equipped with a Sony 4K cinema projector and 5.1 surround sound system.
With over 3000 films in the GCVA Library, you can host your own immersive film screening events.
We also have available a kit with 7 Genelec 8030 speakers and subwoofer to create immersive sound installations.
Edit your films, photographic essays, soundscape compositions or other media in our dedicated lab with 12 editing stations equipped with Mac Studio computers, 4K screens and audio monitors.
These stations, running Adobe Creative Cloud software, are for exclusive GCVA use and are located next to the screening room.
The GCVA film library comprises more than 3000 entries, originally on DVD and VHS, now accessible in digital format. This key University cultural asset complements our online subscription to the Pro Quest Royal Anthropological Institute and Documentary Educational Resources film collections. The library allows students and researchers to explore the development of ethnographic and documentary film.
Plus, thanks to the Central Library we have access to the Alexander Street Press Ethnographic Video Online collection (over 300 films), Kanopy Streaming (26,000 documentaries, indie and foreign films, movie classics), and the British Film Institute BFI player (almost 10,000 films).
a vibrant alumni community
With more than 800 alumni, we form a community that stays in touch even after life has taken us elsewhere.
GCVA graduates work in a wide range of academic, professional and media positions, including university professorships, the UN and directing TV series (including Tribe, Horizon and other BBC and Channel 4 documentaries). Graduates include academics, such as Sarah Pink, Rane Willerslev and Yasmin Fedda. Notable achievements in film and television include Andrew Palmer (as producer) and Gavin Searle (as director), who won the 2011 BAFTA (the British equivalent of the Oscars) for Best Television Documentary Series for Welcome to Lagos (BBC/Keo Films). In 2022, MAVA alumna Jami Bennett won Best Student Documentary at the prestigious Grierson Awards with her graduation film.
In 2025 we launched the GCVA Alumni Network, a message board hosted on the Discord platform where our alumni can communicate with each other, advertise their achievements and share work opportunities.
Plus, recent graduates get to use our equipment and facilities for their projects (when not used for teaching).
our history, since 1987
The Granada Centre was launched in January 1987 through the combined efforts of David Turton, Marilyn Strathern and Leslie Woodhead. Turton was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and the anthropological consultant to Disappearing World, a popular television series about traditional societies around the globe. This was produced by Granada Television, then a major station based in Manchester. Turton persuaded Marilyn Strathern, newly appointed as head of the department, to set up the centre. Woodhead, a director with whom Turton had made several films for the series, persuaded Granada senior management to provide some modest sponsorship. This continued for twenty years, but throughout this period most funding came from the University. Although both Disappearing World and even Granada Television itself have now disappeared, the Granada reference has been retained in the name of the Centre since that is the name by which it is now known around the world.
The initial idea was to offer a largely theoretical year-long MA programme for 8 students. This changed with the appointment of Paul Henley as the first Director in July 1987. He had recently received a professional director-cameraman training at the National Film and Television School and designed a course that was structured around the practice of observational cinema. Since then, we have added a doctoral programme (in 1994) and a short course (in 2009). In total, over 800 students from all over the world have now taken Granada Centre courses.
With the appointment of further academic members of staff, the teaching and research interests of the Centre have diversified, including photography, acoustic anthropology and more theoretical issues concerning the interrelationship between vision and other senses. In 2007 we hosted the RAI Film Festival in conjunction with the conference Beyond Text: Synaesthetic and Sensory Pratices in Anthropology, a key event that set the agenda for the next decade. As the Centre approaches its 40th anniversary, we remain a space for experimentation where students and researchers shape the future of the discipline.
