Occulta Dama

Occulta Dama is a PhD researcher and programme leader of Animation at De Montfort University. Their current research  "Knowing doesn't make you feel; disrupting the imagined insect world through the animated lens" explores insect representation in cinema, primarily in horror, from both a contextual and practical perspective. They have a psychoanalytical approach to film discussion and practice, focusing on the affect, unconsciousness and experience of cinema and how this space can be disrupted. Occulta's background is in horror, previously working as a practical special effects artist and lead animator for Troma Entertainment's feature films. In addition they have work in the animation, AAA games industry and television industry. They have a specialism in 2D animation, mixed media, stop-motion and experimental approaches. Their current work is focused on animation as activism combining a variety of animated approaches to form a body of developing practice research.