One of a kind filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins joins us as the judge for March Film of the Month.

A highly-regarded figure within the film industry, Cousins has always been keen on incorporating his own unique perspective within all of his projects – whether conveyed through his work as a producer, director, or film critic/presenter.

His early career saw him working primarily as an advocate for film. As well as programming for Edinburgh Film Festival in the late 1990s, he co-directed a number of experimental film festivals with Tilda Swinton, memorably carrying a 33.5-tonne portable cinema across Scotland for one of them.

He also presented BBC2 film series Moviedrome (1997-2000) and Scene by Scene (1999-2000), and also served as the co-founder of the 8 ½ Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to help introduce world cinema into children’s lives. He writes and talks frequently on film, currently through a column in Sight & Sound magazine.

Cousins is best known for his 15-hour narrated documentary series, The Story of Film: An Odyssey in which he offered audiences his personal history of film,  one that was wider reaching and more diverse than the Euro/Hollywood centric version that had been canonical to that point. Described by The Telegraph as “the cinematic event of the year,” The Story of Film proved popular with critics and audiences on its More4 debut, with Cousins’ soporific Belfast tones eventually being broadcast to America on Turner Classic Movies.

His follow up, the feature length A Story of Children & Film was similarly eclectic but even more personal, framing a history of cinematic portrayals of childhood on screen against home movie footage of his niece and nephew. A further addendum is in the works, a three hour documentary history project entitled Dear John Grierson.

Since then, he’s directed prolifically, making 6 features in the last three years, mostly travelogues or essay films of some kind. For instance, 6 Desires saw him follow in the footsteps of D.H. Lawrence across Sardinia; his Here Be Dragons he took a cinephilic sojourn across Albania; What Is This Film Called Love? saw him recreate Sergei Eisenstein’s trip to Mexico in the early 1930s. His most recent and most ambitious film project, I Am Belfast, looks at his hometown from the perspective of 10,000-year-old-woman.

I Am Belfast is out in UK cinemas on 8th April. Follow Mark on Twitter to keep up to date with his new projects.

We are pleased to welcome Mark Cousins to view your entries for Film of the Month and are delighted to hear the verdict behind his perceptive and unique eye for film. Submit your films here.