Campus Directory

Division Arts Division

Department/College/Unit Film and Digital Media Department

Title PhD Student

Affiliation Graduate

Web Site

Mail Stop Film and Digital Media

Biography, Education and Training

Emily Khajavi-Thompson is a visual artist, filmmaker, and educator whose research explores the mythos of the American frontier, cinematic representations of place, and decolonial film–with a special emphasis on fostering collaborations with indigenous communities like the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. Her 35mm photography has been featured in UC Law SF’s Journal on Gender and Justice and her textile art has been exhibited at Santa Cruz's Museum of Art and History. She holds a BA in Film and Media Studies from UC Berkeley and is pursuing a Film and Digital Media PhD from UC Santa Cruz. Emily’s focus on slow cinema and slow art mediums has led her to orchestrating textile workshops, including “Care and Entanglement: An Embroidery Workshop Centered Around One Tree” hosted by the Arts and Ecology Festival (2026). Emily is the Los Angeles Review of Books’ Publishing Workshop Coordinator and Publab journal’s Faculty Art Direction Advisor. 

Summary of Expertise

 Internationally Certified Tutor Certificate (2018-current) College Reading & Learning Association.

Research Interests

Emily's current research focuses on the mythos surrounding the American frontier and filmic representations of place. Centering her practice around decolonial film, she is especially focused on collaborating with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and other California Indigenous communities. 

She is excited to explore the intersection of the slow cinema and coming-of-age wilderness genres. Other areas of interest include experimental film, queer theory, Indigenous studies, decolonial film, place-based filmmaking, American studies, film/TV genres, American musicals, and archival footage. 

Awards, Honors and Grants

Departmental Citation Award, UC Berkeley's Film and Media Department (2025).

Early Career Scholar “At Risk” Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. Hosted by University of California, Berkeley (2024).

Selected Exhibitions

cisnan aSciri. 2026, 8x8 embroidery on hand-dyed fabric, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, California. Honoring our Relatives: Amah Mutsun Botanical Illustrations. 13 February 2026 - 7 June 2026.

Justice, A Photo Series and Fluidity and Ambiguity in the Virgin River. Exhibited 35mm photography, UC Law San Francisco. Resistance and Decarceration with California Coalition for Women Prisoners. April 2026.

Selected Presentations

• "ene piramsa: Mourning Slow Violence," 2025, German and Dutch German Symposium at University of California, Berkeley.
• “Gender and Race in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” 2021, Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, Supervisor: Dr. Ama Boakyewa, Long Beach City College.
• “Wonder Woman: An Idealized Tale of Female Sexual Curiosity,”  Honors Transfer Council of California, Research Conference; University of California, Irvine.

Selected Publications

• "Publab Issue VIII," Los Angeles Review of Books, August 2025 (Faculty Art Director, Advisor)
• “Alex Creighton on Writing Habits and Community,” Art of Writing, June 2024. (Article). https://artofwriting.berkeley.edu/writing/alex-creighton-on-writing-habits-and-community/.
• “Justice, a Photo Series,” Hastings Journal on Gender and Justice, Hastings Women's Law Journal. pg. 119. May 2024.
• “Fluidity and Ambiguity in the Virgin River”, Hastings Journal on Gender and Justice. pg 153. May 2024. https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hwlj/vol35/iss2/11
• Thompson, E., Nadiff, R., & Deraniyagala, S. “Sonali Deraniyagala and Wave”. Berkeley News Podcasts. 2024 (photograph)
• “Publab Issue VI,” Los Angeles Review of Books, August 2023 (Advisor and Coordinator)  https://larbpublab.org/issue-six-2023/.
• Featured Photographer  (May 2024) “Photography Feature: Emily Sunflower Thompson” Open Ceilings Magazine, p. cover art and 108-114.
• Berkeley Fiction Review, Online weekly publication and bi-annual print publication, January 2021-January 2022 (Editor)