Institute of Social Anthropology

Associated PhD and Researcher

Sandra Mooser is a social anthropologist specialised in issues of media, migration and representation. She studied Social Anthropology and History at the University of Bern, where she also completed her PhD in Media Anthropology in 2021. 

Her PhD thesis "Look, This Is Us!" is based on four years of field research for which she collaborated with a group of African migrants in Switzerland to jointly produce the Nollywood-inspired feature film PARADISE IN MY MIND. Find more information about the project here.

Research Fields: 

  • Media Anthropology
  • Performance Ethnography
  • Shared Anthropology
  • Transnational Media Practices 
  • Migrant Filmmaking 
  • Nollywood in the Diaspora
Nollywood-Inspired Migrant Filmmaking in Switzerland: Practice, Performance and Meaning: This book introduces the emerging, but still little-known, phenomenon of Nollywood-inspired filmmaking by African migrants in Europe. Using the unique example of a performance ethnographic case study in Switzerland, it shows how members of the African diaspora represent themselves through audio-visual media and what influence the post-colonial images of the Nigerian video film industry have on their image production. Drawing on Jean Rouch’s Shared Anthropology and the methods of Performance Ethnography, this book provides an in-depth look at the complexity of migrants’ everyday lives and showcases Nollywood-inspired transnational filmmaking practices. In its refreshing and accessible writing style, it also illustrates the performance ethnographic research process, highlights the pitfalls and challenges of collaborative film projects, and critically engages with fundamental questions of social research in decolonial settings.

Publications