Dr. Skadi Loist is Associate Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Their research focuses on film festivals and circulation, digital methods, working conditions, diversity and sustainability, and queer film culture.

They studied Media Culture, American Studies, Gender Studies, and Art History at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and Smith College, MA/USA. Prior to joining NTNU in 2025, Loist was Assistant Professor for Production Cultures in Audiovisual Media Industries at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF (2018-2025) and was invited as Max Kade Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame, IN/USA, in Spring 2025.

Prior positions at other institutions include Postdoctoral Researcher / Lecturer at the University of Rostock (2014-2018), Research Assistant and Doctoral Candidate at the University of Hamburg (2009-2013) and being a former Visiting Scholar at Concordia University in Montreal (CA), University of Technology in Sydney (AU), Deakin University in Melbourne (AU), Aarhus University (DK) and Linnæus University in Växjö (SE).

Loist has led several international research projects, including Film Circulation on the International Film Festival Network and the Impact on Global Film Culture (BMBF 2017–2022), which combined digital humanities with film festival research, and GEP Analysis (DFG/ESRC/SSHRC 2021–2024), which used quantitative, policy and network analysis to examine persistent gender inequalities in the film industries of Germany, Canada, and the UK.

Loist's work has been published in multiple languages across journals such as Screen, NECSUS, Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft, Diogène, Studies in European Cinema, Media Industries Journal, and Nordic Journal of Media Studies. They have co-edited several special issues and volumes, including the widely used textbook Film Festivals: History, Theory, Method, Practice (Routledge 2016, with Marijke de Valck & Brendan Kredell), and publications on gender, queer media, and German film industries.

A strong advocate for collaboration, Loist co-founded the Film Festival Research Network (FFRN) and the European University Film Award (EUFA). They have held leadership roles in NECS (Steering Committee 2015-21),  SCMS, and GfM, and serve on the editorial board of NECSUS – European Journal of Media Studies and Journal of Festive Studies.