About

I’m a filmmaker, professor, and graduate program director in the Department of English at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. I am also an affiliate faculty member in the Departments of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and in the Graduate Certificate in Media, Arts, Culture, and Technology. I am the co-editor of the annual film issue of The Italianist, the book series Transnational Cultures (Peter Lang), and the H-Net network TransItalian Studies. I also serve on the editorial board of scholarly journals, including Scritture Migranti, Quaderni d'italianistica, and MediAzioni. Rivista online di studi interdisciplinari su lingue e culture.

I earned my BA from the University of Bologna (2005), my MA from the University of Trento (2008), and my PhD from the University of Warwick (2013). I have also studied at the University of Leicester (2002) and the University of Kassel (2005). In 2005, I undertook a three-month overland journey from Germany to Kazakhstan, then across China and into Japan—a trip that proved just as important in shaping who I am as my formal studies. I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Warwick in 2014, Visiting Scholar at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2021, a Faculty Fellow at the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University in 2026, and have been an Associate Member of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women’s Writing at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, since 2015.

My research and artistic practice unfold across six main strands. The first explores how migrants, especially those coming from former Italian colonies in East Africa, have represented themselves. This often involves direct collaboration with migrant writers, filmmakers, and artists to develop critical reflections about colonialism and its legacy,  anti-Islamic sentiment, racism, and the dynamics of our own collaboration.

The second examines how migration and colonialism have been depicted in both mainstream literature—particularly the Cannibali and New Italian Epic movements—and cinema, exploring genres ranging from documentary and horror to animation, road movies, and science fiction. The latter genre and its representation of different kinds of “aliens" have led me to co-author two books on the subject. 

Thirdly, and relatedly, I am interested in science fiction studies, with a particular emphasis on Italy. My research examines the cultural negotiations that occur when science fiction narratives are adapted or retold across different contexts; the construction of plausibility through fictional discourse; the projection of national identity through imagined shared futures; the production of alterity along axes of gender and the construction of masculinity in superhero cinema; and the role of science fiction in both enabling authoritarian projects (as exemplified by Futurism) and contesting them. My work on science fiction also centers on J. G. Ballard's description of the role of media in shaping perceptions of modernity and psychological dislocation, the subject of my first monograph.

The fourth strand investigates the memory and legacy of historical events. For instance, I have examined how postcolonial literature interrogates Fascist interpretations of Dante and their instrumentalization in colonial contexts and in post-World War 2 Italy, alongside the role of colonialism in shaping sports cultures in Italy and the enduring pervasiveness of colonial legacies in public spaces. I have also worked on a public history project and studied 1970s terrorism, analyzing how photographs can bear and transmit the memory of acts of violence, and shape collective understanding over time.

The fifth strand focuses on film and media studies. I have co-edited a special issue on circulation studies, and published articles on my own experience as an independent filmmaker, reflecting on the creative work of other filmmakers through both scholarly research and artistic practice. I am currently co-editing a special issue on Italian television.

Lastly, my work engages with critical race and ethnicity studies, focusing on the performative and embodied construction of race and ethnicity, particularly in relation to Italians, Arabs, and Italian Americans.

My research projects received support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Council, the Italian Prime Minister's Office, the Ragusa Foundation for the Humanities, the Comunità Bresciana Foundation, the Long Island Grant for the Arts, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and grants from the University of Warwick and Stony Brook University. Among the recognitions for my films are: Best Documentary at the Integrazione Film Festival (Italy, 2023); Best Documentary at the Film Only Film Festival (Canada, 2023); the Premio COOP – Voci di Donne Invisibili at the Terra di Tutti Film Festival (Italy, 2023); and the Winston Ryder Award for Best Sound at the St Andrews Film Festival (Scotland, 2023) for the documentary Maka. Moreover, Oltre i bordi has received the Virginia Dares Cinematic Arts Award (United States, 2023), and La quarta via won the First Prize at the Libero Bizzarri Documentary Festival – Mediaeducazione (Italy, 2010).

I have had the privilege of being invited to present my work at universities, schools, and research centers across Europe, North America, and Australia. Beyond academia, my projects have been showcased in cinemas, theatres, museums, bookstores, and cultural centers worldwide, as well as featured at international film, music, and literature festivals. I'm committed to storytelling in all its forms and to bringing scholarly research beyond academia through sustained community engagement.

I teach courses in Critical Theory, Migration Studies, Translation Theory, Film Studies, Science Fiction, and Postcolonial Literature. In 2025, I was honored with the Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching by a Faculty Member. I have advised Ph.D. students, including Lindsey Pelucacci and Ceren Usta, and served on PhD dissertation committees for others, such as Jinyoung Anna Jin and Brandon Breen.  I have also advised and collaborated on pedagogical projects with MA students, such as Lorraine Hallet.

Short bio-note

Simone Brioni is a filmmaker and Professor in the English Department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His research explores the textual and visual representation of migrants and their self‑representations, questions of performativity and embodiment, and the legacy and memory of past atrocities.

ITA: Simone Brioni è un filmmaker e professore presso il Dipartimento di Inglese dell’università statale di New York a Stony Brook.  La sua ricerca indaga le rappresentazioni visive e testuali dei migranti e le loro autorappresentazioni, nonché le pratiche di appartenenza e le modalità performative dell’identità culturale.