Mihai Andrei Leaha
Job description
Mihai Andrei Leaha is an Associate Professor, multimodal anthropologist, and ethnographic filmmaker within the Department of Social Sciences at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. His research concerns visual disinformation and trust in digital environments, multimodal ethnographic methodologies, embodied music cultures, popular culture, Roma studies, and the socio-material impacts of generative AI technologies.
He is Chair of the Commission on Visual Anthropology of IUAES (2023-Present) and serves on the editorial board of the NAFA/CVA Newsletter.
ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Visual and Multimodal Anthropology (Ethnographic Film, Digital Media, Collaborative Methods) Visual Disinformation; Generative AI (Environmental Impacts, AI Image and Information Systems) Embodied Music Cultures and DIY Scenes; Religion and Popular Culture; Roma Studies and Marginalized Communities; Visual Deception; Decolonial Research Methodologies and Indigenous Cinema; Digital Anthropology and New Media Technologies, Sensory and Participatory Ethnographies.
REGIONAL: Europe (Eastern Europe) Latin America (Brazil) Digital and Online Communities.
ABOUT: Mihai completed his PhD in Visual Anthropology at Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania and has carried out long-term ethnographic fieldwork across Europe and Latin America. He has been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona as part of the ERC-funded Visual Trust project (2022-2025), examining visual disinformation, AI-generated content, and religious imagery in digital political campaigns. Previously, he conducted research at the University of São Paulo (2018-2022) on the embodiment of DIY music scenes through multimodal approaches as part of the FAPESP funded project: "Local musicking: new pathways for ethnomusicology".
His research has been supported by: ERC (European Research Council), FAPESP (The São Paulo Research Foundation), EEA Grants, and SCOPES.
His work has been published in leading journals including Cultural Anthropology, Visual Studies, and Multimodality & Society. As an ethnographic filmmaker, he has produced award-winning films including "Canto de Familia" (Special Mention, In-Edit Brasil 2020), "Carlos Caps Drag Race" (Pierre Verger Prize 2022 - Best mid-length film), "Valley of Sighs" (Best Film, Etnofilm Rovinj 2014), and "Drags in da'House" (2024, 68 min). His films have been screened at major international festivals and have received recognition from GIEFF, Astra Film Festival, and the Brazilian Anthropological Association.
His teaching focuses on visual anthropology, multimodal ethnographic practices, and ethnographic filmmaking, emphasizing both theoretical understanding and practical application through film, digital media, and collaborative creative outputs.
Research interests
PUBLICATIONS AND FILMS
Selected Publications
Leaha, M., & Canals, R. (2024). "Resisting Alternative Images. An Ethnography of Visual Disinformation in Brazil." Cultural Anthropology 39(4): 533-563. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca39.4.03
Leaha, M., & Canals, R. (2024). "Sounding of the Idols. Visual Deception and Religious Images in Brazil." Visual Studies, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2024.2412605
Leaha, M. (2021). "'Saudades da festa!' Triggering sensory memories of DIY electronic music through multimodal practices." Multimodality & Society 1(3): 407-424.
Leaha, M. (2021). "Confronting Museums: Collaboration, Reception and Experiment in 'Tabuluja (Wake up!)' and 'New York: just another city.'" Trajectoria Journal, Vol. 2.
Leaha, M. (2020). "Filming 'Papoula'. Multimodal collaborations and experience making." Visual Ethnography Journal Vol. IX, No. 1, p. 38-57.
Leaha, M. (2019). "Multimodal spaces, atmospheres, modulations. Experiencing the independent electronic music scene of São Paulo." Entanglements Journal, 2(1): 143-160.
Leaha, M. (2018). "Participatory cinema: exploring forms of anthropological knowledge. The crafting of ethnographic film, 'possible worlds' theory and participatory experience." Scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies. Vol. 10 Issue 18, p13-19.
Leaha, M. (2017). "Looking for others. Interview with David MacDougall." Gesture Image and Sound. V2. N.1 p. 307-316.
Book Chapters and Edited Volumes
Leaha, M. & Canals R. (2025, forthcoming). "AI and the Fact-checking Movement. Facts, fakes, and the Battle for Visual Trust." In Handbook on Anthropology and Artificial Intelligence, edited by S. Udupa, M. Baas, & P. Hervik.
Leaha, M., & Bessa Braz, P. (2025, accepted). "Participatory filmmaking as a decolonized multimodal collaboration." In Routledge International Handbook of Ethnographic Film and Video (2nd edition), edited by Philip Vannini.
Leaha, M. (2025, accepted). "Covert Iconic Intensification: The Hidden Paths of Political Images in Romanian Elections." In Visual Trust collective book, edited by Roger Canals.
Leaha, M., & Canals, R. (2025, organizing). Dossier on "Trust and Ethnographic Film" (co-edited). Anthrovision Journal.
Leaha, M., Villela, A., & Prado, Y. (2024). "Apresentação Do Dossiê: Musicar, Audiovisual e Multimodalidade." PROA: Revista de Antropologia e Arte 13. https://doi.org/10.20396/proa.v13i00.18581
Leaha, M., Villela, A., Bessa Braz, P., Ermel, P.B., Hikiji, R.S., & Prado, Y. (2024, forthcoming). "Filme, etnografia e musicar." In Musicar Local. O musicar na localidade e a localidade no musicar, edited by Suzel Ana Reily, Rose Satiko Hikiji, and Flávia Camargo Toni. Unicamp Editora.
Ethnographic Films
"Wachdogs" (2025). 54 min. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project.
"Drags in da'House" (2024). 68 min. Co-directed with Paula Bessa Braz, Satine, DiVina Kaskaria, GabBrasil. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA.
"Verdade e Mentiras" (Truth and Lies) (2024). 21 min. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project. Nominated for the Pierre Verger Prize 2024.
"Felices Olives" (2024). 15 min. Co-directed with Paula Bessa Braz. Produced by Lavanderia Docs.
"The Promised Image" (2023). 12 min. Co-directed with Roger Canals. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project.
"Os Pertanyen les Imatges" (2023). 30 min. Co-directed with Roger Canals and Juan Francisco Cuyas-Diaz. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project.
"Tetraciclina" (2022). 16 min. Produced by Lavanderia Docs. Screened at Riga Passaules 2022.
"Carlos Caps Drag Race" (2022). 20 min. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA. Best mid-length film - Pierre Verger Prize 2022.
"Cybershota" (2022). 18 min. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA. Second place in the short film competition - Pierre Verger Prize 2022.
"Erica's Wave" (2021). 20 min. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA.
"Pedro/Bilu" (2021). 10 min. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA.
"Canto de Familia" (2020). 74 min. Co-directed with Paula Bessa Braz. Produced by LISA and Triba Film. Special mention In-Edit Brasil. Screened at: SIEF Congress 2021 Finland, Riga Pasaules 2021, Ethnofest Athens 2021, Anpocs Congress Brazil 2021.
"Mockup Wedding" (2018). 41 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Screened at Culese din Balkani 2018, Astra Film Festival 2018, SIPA Unicamp 2018.
"Valley of Sighs" (2013). 57 min. Co-directed with Iulia Hossu and Andrei Crisan. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Best Image in a Romanian Documentary, Astra Film Festival Sibiu 2013; Best Film Etnofilm Rovinj 2014; Audience Award Verzio Budapest 2014. Screened at 12 international film festivals with over 100 special screenings.
"Broscatu. The Storyteller" (2012). 62 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Official selection NAFA 2012, Culese din Balcani 2016.
"Looking at themselves: Babaluda Luda" (2012). 33 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Winner of GIEFF 2012, Winner of Etnofilm Rovinj 2013. Selected at more than 30 festivals.
"Shooting the Goat" (2013). 25 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Film made for the Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe Conference, Alba Iulia 2013.
"The Street Musician" (2012). 20 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Official selection Astra Film Festival 2012.
"The Deer Dance of Cucuteni" (2012). 16 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania.
"Between here and afterword. The tree of the dead in Mociu" (2012). 18 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania.
"The tree of the dead. A bridge between the worlds" (2011). 12 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania.
"The Caluseri from Tarsa" (2010). 30 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Presented at TVR national TV station, November 2010.
"The Embellished Ox from Figa" (2008). 35 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. Presented in International Summer School Program: Come closer organized by ISPMN.
"The Bitter Bread" (2007). 15 min. Produced by Triba Film Romania. FEST 2009 Cluj-Napoca Student Film Festival award.
Films in Production
"A Matter of Facts" - 90 min feature film about deceptive images in Brazil, Spain and Romania. Co-directed with Roger Canals. To be launched in 2025. Produced by Visual Trust Project.
"Sensorhythms Film Series" - 7-episode online mini-series to be launched in 2025. Produced by Lavanderia Docs & LISA.
"The trees of the Dead" 70 min feature film about a lost ritual. Co-directed with Roger Canals. To be launched in 2025. Produced by Visual Trust Project.
Director of Photography & Editing
"Under Jagannaths Gaze" (2024). 29 min. Director of Photography. Directed by Roger Canals and Juan Francisco Cuyas-Diaz. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project.
"The Color of Spirits" (2023). 8 min. Editor. Directed by Roger Canals. Produced by Visual Trust ERC Project.
"Globus" (2018). 70 min. Director of Photography and Co-Producer. Directed by Clara Kleininger. Screened at Krakow Film Festival, Astra Film Festival.
"Da Nascente a Foz" (2019). TV Series documentary about the Tiete River in São Paulo State. Director of Photography. Canal Futura. Production Laboratorio Cisco. Directed by Hidalgo Romero. TV Cultura, Brazil.