To celebrate the life of Brock Poulin, Cinephile‘s inaugural editor, the journal has created the Brock Poulin Cinephile Award – to be awarded to the best graduate student essay published in every forthcoming issue of Cinephile. As Brock wrote in Cinephile‘s first-ever Editor’s Introduction (April 22 2005), “The mandate of this publication is to showcase and promote the academic work of UBC Film Studies students, in particular the graduating Master’s student.” Although Cinephile has since significantly expanded its publication range, Brock’s original vision of the journal as a special platform for superlative graduate student work remains a cornerstone of the publication’s ethos. As such, past and present editorial board members and faculty advisors agreed that it would be appropriate to award the prize to the best graduate student essay published in each issue of Cinephile – from issue 15.1 (“Cinematic Bodies”) onward.

It was Brock’s special interest in film and pop culture journalism that inspired Prof. Brian McIlroy to start the gears turning on the journal. Brian recalls that, “Back in 2004-2005, as we discussed his MA thesis topic on recent non-linear film narratives, Brock enthusiastically suggested the film studies program should have an outlet for film journalism and also for graduate student essays. I and then administrator Kate Castelo thought this was a terrific idea, especially since Brock volunteered to be the editor and could draw upon his previous journalistic experiences. We found a little bit of money and Cinephile was born. Brock had a sixth sense that this would not only be valuable in itself as a publication, but also as a way to bind the graduate student cohort together. After over 15 years of operation, many graduate students owe a great deal to Brock’s initiative and for setting the tone with his generous and empathetic treatment of students and contributors.

Brock’s 2005 MA thesis, “Dark Time(s): Non-Linear Narratives in the Postmodern Film Noir“, explored a variety of non-linear narrative films so, in addition to the prize title, the winner of the Brock Poulin Cinephile Award will receive a Blu-Ray copy of one of the films mentioned in Brock’s thesis. The winning essay will be chosen by the relevant issue’s editorial board.