Dr. Denis Sasse

Key Areas of Research

• Film, media and cultural studies
• Media education and socialisation
• Film education, didactics and outreach
• Gender and diversity studies

Academic Publications

Sasse, D. (2027). Transcultural Adaptation Processes and Narrative Re-figurations of Classic Disney Villains in the Twisted Wonderland Franchise. On the topic: Tracing the Aesthetics of Media Transition: Adaptation Processes in Children’s and Young People’s Media. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2027). Overwhelm as a Narrative: Individual Action within Institutional Constraints in ‘Das Lehrerzimmer’ (2023) and ‘Heldin’ (2025). Topic: Characters facing overwhelming demands: modernisation – individualisation – disorientation. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2027). From the Isolated Final Girl to the Feminist Collective: Transformations of Female Agency in the *Black Christmas* Films (1974, 2006, 2019). On the topic: Reading Christmas Films 6: Christmas Women – Feminist Counter-Readings of Christmas Films. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). Female Agency in the Buffyverse: Slayers between institutionalised obedience, moral rebellion and collective emancipation. In: M. Weiß (ed.). Welcome to the Buffyverse – On the Living, the (Un-)Dead and Unwavering Relevance. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). Alice in the Transmedia Framework of Resident Evil: On the Asymmetrical Structure of a Plural Canon. Anthology: *Beyond Raccoon City – Resident Evil as a Transmedia Horror Franchise*. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). ‘Feminism without a Manifesto. Agency in the Animated World of Studio Ghibli’. *Dzieciństwo*. Literatura i Kultura, 1/2026. Department of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw (ed.). [forthcoming]

Sasse, D. (2026). ‘Diversity in Motion. Diversity Narratives in Contemporary Animated Series''. FFK Journal, (12). [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). The Diversity of German Children’s Film. On Cinematic Initiation and the Development of Genre Competence in Children’s Cinema. On the topic: Genre productions in German film, broadcasting and streaming. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). ‘Between Subtext and Visibility. Queer Representations in Children’s and Young People’s Animated Films’. Conference proceedings: Life Like in the Movies – (Current) Developments in Children’s and Young People’s Film. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2026). ‘Queerness in Pokémon. The Subversive Performativity of Team Rocket’s Jessie and James’. On the topic: 30 Years of Pokémon – Media Studies and Educational Perspectives on the World’s Most Successful Media Franchise, *Paidia*. Journal of Computer Game Research. Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. [accepted]

Sasse, D. (2025). Audiovisual Diversity in Children’s and Young People’s Media. The Portrayal of Cartoon Heroes and Heroines in the Animated Series ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’. In the series: Media Education and Society (Volume 54), P. Bettinger, S. Ganguin, S. Iske, A.-M. Kamin & D. M. Meister (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-48700-3

Sasse, D. (2020). Media Education and Film Analysis. In: U. Sander, F. von Gross & K.-U. Hugger (eds.). Handbook of Media Education. (pp. 443–449). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-23578-9_56

Academic presentations

8th Annual Conference of the Animation Working Group of the Society for Media Studies: Frames and Inbetweens. Positions and Perspectives in German-Language Animation Research, University of Paderborn, 18–20 November 2026. Paper: Framing Diversity. Towards a Multidimensional Analysis of Expressions of Diversity between Storyworld and Discourse in Popular Animation Formats [accepted]

Symposium of the Commission for Narrative Research within the German Society for Empirical Cultural Studies: Tremate, tremate le streghe son tornate! Witches in Popular Culture – Characters and Narratives in Media and the Arts, University of Zurich, 29 October–1 November 2026. Presentation: From Demonisation to Empathisation: The Transmedial Process of Refiguration of the Witch Maleficent [accepted]

17th Annual Conference of the Society for Fantasy Studies: Violence and Fantasy, University of Cologne, 17–19 September 2026. “Paper: Societal Fear of Otherness as a Trigger for Structural Violence in the Fantasy Animation ‘Nimona’ (2023)” [accepted]

30th International Bremen Film Symposium: Figures of Overwhelm: Modernisation – Individualisation – Disorientation, CITY 46 Municipal Cinema, Bremen, 6–9 May 2026. Presentation: Overwhelm as a Narrative: Individual Action within Institutional Constraints in ‘Das Lehrerzimmer’ (2023) and ‘Heldin’ (2025)

Film and Media Studies Colloquium, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 11–13 March 2026. Presentation: Diversity in Motion. Diversity Narratives in Contemporary Animated Series

Annual Conference of the Genre Studies Working Group of the Society for Media Studies, University of Mannheim, 12–13 December 2025. Presentation: The Diversity of German Children’s Film. On Cinematic Initiation and the Development of Genre Competence in Children’s Cinema

Academic Communication and Specialised Essays

Sasse, D. (2026). The Witch in Cinema: From a Culturally Constructed Enemy Image to a Figure of Resistance and Empowerment. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. [in progress]

Sasse, D. (2026). “DreamWorks Animation and the Big Questions of Life”. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. [in progress]

Sasse, D. (2026). “The Toy Worlds of Cinema: Exploring the World with He-Man”. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2026). Reflexive Cinema: Self-Portraits of the Dream Factory. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2026). Generation: Guilt & Shame. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2026). Religious Everyday Life as a Quiet Presence: Shinto Motifs in the Children’s Films of Hayao Miyazaki. In: German Centre for Children’s and Youth Film (ed.). Children’s and Youth Film Portal & Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. #ichsehewas (2026, Religion in Children’s Film). Full text

Sasse, D. (2026). Chosen Closeness – Films about Patchwork Families. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2025). On the Art of Taming Oneself: On Young People’s Attachment to Mythical Creatures and Its Significance for Child Development. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2025). In the Urban Animal Kingdom: The *Zootopia* Films and Their Social Analysis. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2025). Totalitarianism and Resistance: Youth Rebellion against Totalitarian Systems in Fantasy and Science Fiction Films. In: German Centre for Children’s and Youth Film (ed.). Children’s and Youth Film Portal & Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. #ichsehewas (2025-9, Films Against the Far Right!). Full text

Sasse, D. (2025). ‘More Thrill, More Spectacle: The Arena as a Mirror of Digital Media Societies’. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2025). Culinary cinema. The taste of life. In: Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. Full text

Sasse, D. (2024). Charismatic Rebels in Teaching Factories: Teachers in Children’s and Youth Films. In: German Centre for Children’s and Youth Film (ed.). Children’s and Youth Film Portal & Catholic Film Commission for Germany (ed.). filmdienst.de. #ichsehewas (2024-8, At School). Full text

Sasse, D. (2023). ‘Sunny to Cloudy. 25 Years of the German Intergenerational Film Award’. [Media education accompanying booklet]. In: German Centre for Children’s and Youth Film (ed.). Sunny to Cloudy. 25 Years of the German Intergenerational Film Award. [DVD]. Remscheid: KJF.

Member of the Center for Research on Childhood and Adolescence (ZKJF)
Member of the Society for Media Studies (GfM)

• Member of the Media Culture and Education Working Group
• Member of the Gender/Queer Studies and Media Studies Working Group
• Member of the Film Studies Working Group
• Member of the Television Working Group
• Member of the Animation Working Group

Member of the Society for Media Education and Communication Culture (GMK)

• Member of the Film Section
• Member of the Media and Gender Relations Section
• Member of the Games Section

Member of the Society for Fantasy Studies (GfF)
Member of the Programme Advisory Board of Bielefeld Campus Radio Hertz 87.9

2026 Screening Committee for the 2027 Bremen Film Festival, German Premiere – Short Film
2025 Screening Committee for the 2026 Bremen Film Festival, Innovation competition category
2024 Selection Committee for the Bundes.Festival.Film
2019 Jury member for the “Bilderbeben” short film competition