Jessica Moore is a PhD candidate in Film at the University of Cambridge. 

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Jessica's doctoral research is a philosophical investigation into loose narrative films. What does it mean for a film to feel loose? What can be gained from defining and examining this quality? These are the two questions that underpin Jessica's research, and are explored through close readings of five different loose films (by, respectively, Chantal Akerman, David Lynch, Kelly Reichardt, Jacques Rivette, and Wim Wenders). In these films the quality of looseness is seen to take distinct forms: for example, through narration, aesthetic strategies, coherence, intelligibility, continuity, dramatic tension, performances, and rhythm. Each of the close readings address at least one of these aspects. Despite clear differences in the films selected, (both in terms of period and genre, an intentional gesture to highlight the versatility of the loose film), they all feel less tightly wound as a result of self-consciously interacting and experimenting with classical strategies, to the extent that they reflect upon and challenge viewer expectations. The project claims that by attending to the quality of looseness we can uncover a novel method to explore and evaluate several aspects of aesthetic experience. The aim of the project is to have developed and tested a distinct methodology for film interpretation and to exemplify the ways in which sensitivity to issues of looseness can make us more alive to a variety of film reflexivities, subtleties, and complexities. 

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Despite its philosophical nature, the project remains grounded in film history and alert to evolutions in film style, both within directors’ oeuvres and within national contexts; the project deliberately focuses on loose films specifically from the US and Europe and made no earlier than 1970. This decision is not simply due to the limited scope of a doctoral thesis, where boundaries must be imposed, but a crucial effort to acknowledge the creative industrial dialogue between the US and Europe during this time, one that materialised from a set of cultural circumstances and, to an extent, made the loose film possible. However, as the loose film has evolved and persisted, the project lingers in but ultimately looks beyond its emergence in the 70s. By working through matters historic and philosophical, this research hopes to establish the loose film as a significant, persistent aesthetic category and achievement.

 

​This topic emerged at the intersection of numerous research interests, including film aesthetics, film philosophy, aesthetic evaluation, slow cinema, literary studies, and philosophical criticism.​​

 

 

 

education

PhD, Film 

Newnham College, University of Cambridge.

2023 - 2027 (expected)

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MSt, Film Aesthetics (Distinction)

Worcester College, University of Oxford.

2021 - 2022

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BA Hons, English (First-Class)

University of Kent with an Erasmus+ year at Freie Univeristät Berlin.

2016 - 2020

 

 

 

​​​​scholarships, grants, prizes

Vice-Chancellor’s and Newnham College Scholarship 
Cambridge Trust and Newnham College, University of Cambridge. Awarded based on competitive ranking, as assessed through the University’s postgraduate funding competition.

2023 - 2026​

 

Event Fund 
British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies.

2026

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Postgraduate Research and Travel Grant 
Newnham College, University of Cambridge.

2025

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Postgraduate Research and Travel Grant 
Newnham College, University of Cambridge.

2024 

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Distinction Prize
Worcester College, University of Oxford. Concurrently achieved the highest average mark of the subject cohort.

2022

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School of English Rotary Prize 
Faculty of Humanities, University of Kent. Awarded to the top achieving student in the degree subject.

2020
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presented papers

‘Reciprocal, Reiterative Pleasures in Jacques Rivette's Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974)’, French Graduate Research Seminar, University of Cambridge, 2026

 

‘Dangling conversations, flickering desires: towards and away from Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit (1982)’, Film Work in Progress Seminar, Queens College, University of Cambridge, 2025

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‘‘Slight Shudders’: the Aesthetics of Emphasis in Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up (2022)’, Rethinking Rhythm in Film Symposium, Anglia Ruskin University, 2025

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‘Reconsidering ‘unevenness’ in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries (1957)’ as part of ‘Forget About the Beautiful: the Messy, the Uneven, the Disappointing, and the Silly’ Film and Philosophy SIG panel, British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Annual Conference 2025, University of Warwick, 2025

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‘Narrative Carousels and Modes of Play in Jacques Rivette’s Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974)', Preface, Prelude, Prologue: An Interdisciplinary Symposium, University of Sussex with Lewes Depot Cinema, 2024

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‘Everything turns into Formica: Visualising Crisis in Barbara Loden’s Wanda (1970)’, Newnham College MCR Graduate Conference, Newnham College, University of Cambridge, 2024​​​​

 

 

 

​​​​​​selected writing​​​​​

Visualizing Liberation in 'But I'm a Cheerleader'MUBI Notebook, 2020

https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/visualizing-liberation-in-but-i-m-a-cheerleader-9518

 

 

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​​​other experiences

During her time at Cambridge, Jessica co-convened the 'Film Work-in-Progress' seminar series, accumulating into the 'Unfinishedness' PhD symposium; she supervised undergraduates; she held the position of Vice President of the historic Newnham Arts Society during its revival; she co-organised book launches and symposiums; and she worked as a College Mentor for the University's outreach programme, SHARE (Social Sciences and Humanities Access to Research Experience).

 

Outside Cambridge, Jessica is a member of BAFTSS (British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies). She is one of two founding co-convenors of the reading group Close-Up and the founding editor-in-chief of Wasteland Arts. She has worked as a pre-selection juror for small film festivals and has attended the BFI London Film Festival as a press delegate. While at Oxford, Jessica co-edited the film column for Cherwell, the University's oldest and leading student newspaper (founded in 1920), and she wrote for The Isis (founded in 1892, the longest-running independent student magazine in the UK, whose alumni include Evelyn Waugh and Sylvia Plath). Throughout her studies, Jessica has written articles, lists, and reviews for various online magazines.

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​Jessica has professional experience as a Library Assistant at Cambridge, as a Receptionist at the Ruskin School of Art, and as an Admissions Officer at Magdalen College, Oxford. As Magdalen's Admissions Officer, Jessica was the point of information on admissions matters for prospective applicants, incoming students, and College tutors. She was responsible for: the execution of the admissions exercise for undergraduates and graduates; processing applications; organising admissions interviews; co-organising Open Days and delivering an admissions information session; collecting and verifying qualification evidence; creating statistical reports; among much else. She worked closely with the College's tutorial fellows and outreach officers. Access to higher education remains a serious professional interest.

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