Writer. Editor. Film Scholar. Script Consultant
I am currently working on a book on sado-masochistic themes in 1960s-70s cinema, looking at films such as La prisonnière, The Story of O, The Night Porter and In the Realm of the Senses as well as the work of Jess Franco and Alain Robbe-Grillet, and exploring the way they revisit the themes laid out... Continue Reading →
I had the pleasure of interviewing some of the filmmakers attending Tubi FrightFest 2026 in a new series of short interviews on Instagram, including Larry Fessenden, The Adams Family, Chris Schwab, James Branson and Taylor Thompson, Kyle Mangione-Smith, Jason and Brett Butler, Juan Martin Alonso, Tom Mes and the brilliant Graham Humphreys, who created this... Continue Reading →
I'm honoured to have been asked to take part in the 'Mean Girls: Claude Chabrol’s dangerous women' panel alongside the brilliant Prano Bailey-Bond and Catherine Wheatley. The event is on 23rd September and is part of the BFI Southbank season Claude Chabrol – Elements of Crime, curated by Catherine Wheatley, which runs from 1st September... Continue Reading →
I will be introducing Herschell Gordon Lewis's slice of gory insanity Blood Feast at BFI Southbank on 2nd April 2026. The screening is part of the season Trash! The Wildest Films You've Ever Seen curated by William Fowler and Justin Johnson, running at BFI Southbank 30 March-30 April 2026.
I had the pleasure of doing a commentary with the brilliant Lindsay Hallam for the Radiance Films 4K restoration of Harry Kumel's exquisite Daughters of Darkness (1971), out now. More information on the Blu-ray on the Radiance Films website.
Congratulations to Jonathan Zaurin and the rest of the team on the release of their second feature film Derelict! Also included on the Blu-ray as an extra to Jonathan's superb, complex and haunting exploration of grief and revenge is The Petting Zoo, the short film I directed with huge help from Jonathan and much of... Continue Reading →
In this episode of the Straight On Till Morning Show, I host a programme on the FrightFest festival, which took place from 21st to the 25th August 2025 in London. I talk to Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies and co-writer of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema, and film critic Dr Anton Bitel, who guide... Continue Reading →
Honoured to have contributed a video essay, 'Material vampires and the defeat of science', to the limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray of Trouble Every Day, released by Eureka Entertainment. The essay was masterfully edited by Jonathan Zaurin, my thanks to him for doing such a wonderful job. More details on the Eureka website.
I will be introducing Hollis Frampton's Zorns Lemma (1970) at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam on Sunday 27th October 2024. The screening is part of the museum's 'Underground: American Avant-Garde Film in the 1960s', which runs from 13th October 2024 to 5th January 2025. More information about Zorns Lemma on the Eye Filmmuseum website.
THE PETTING ZOO, the short film I wrote and directed last year, has been selected to screen at the Razor Reel Flanders Film Fest. The festival runs from 24th October to 2nd November 2024. THE PETTING ZOO screens on 1st November.
I have written an essay for the 88 Films release of Tatsumi Kumashiro's 1973 Woman Hell: Woods Are Wet, part of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno range. Thanks to Jasper Sharp for asking me to write about one of my favourite 1970s adaptations of the Marquis de Sade. For anyone interested in the book I am writing... Continue Reading →
Virginie Sélavy 