Will DiGravio [he/they] is a Brooklyn-based critic, researcher, video essayist, and podcaster.
Film Work
Much of my current work centers on creating, curating, and researching the history of videographic criticism and other found footage forms. I have taught and spoken about such topics at film festivals, academic conferences, and universities throughout the United States and Europe. A full list can be found here.
Since 2019, I have hosted The Video Essay Podcast, a show featuring conversations with the form's leading practitioners. In 2021, I launched a companion show, On Your Screen, which focuses on various aspects of digital film culture: GIFs, fan vidding, social media, etc. I also write the regular newsletter, Notes on Videographic Criticism.
My own video essays (collected here) have screened at various festivals and conferences, including as part of the Critics' Choice program at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. My work has appeared in the 2019, 2020, and 2021 surveys of the year's best work by Sight & Sound.
Curatorial work includes the Black Lives Matter Video Essay Project, a collection of more than 100 audiovisual works co-curated with Kevin B. Lee and Cydnii Wilde Harris. Selections of the playlist were curated at conferences and festivals, including Open City Documentary Festival, Camden International Film Festival, and Filmfest Dresden. The project was named the best video essay project of 2020 by the editors of Sight & Sound. More here.
I also work as a freelance film critic and culture writer (clips here). The bulk of my work appears at Film School Rejects, where I have been a contributor since 2018. Other work has appeared at Crooked Marquee, NonFics, and Sight & Sound. In 2021, I was invited to participate in Berlinale Talents as member of the Talent Press. Since 2019, I have been involved with Screenworks, the peer-reviewed journal of film and media practice research. I am currently an associate editor.
In 2020, I earned an M.Phil. from the Centre for Film & Screen at the University of Cambridge, where I studied as a Keasbey Scholar. I hold a B.A in Film & Media Culture from Middlebury College.
My Day Job
Since December 2021, I have worked full-time as a researcher and editorial assistant for journalist and historian Garrett M. Graff. I am currently working on research for his next book and assisting with a mix of other journalistic projects. I previously worked at Media Matters for America, where I researched right-wing media, extremism, and online disinformation.