Brian C. Smithson is a cultural anthropologist who explores audiovisuality in all its forms. His work focuses on the Yorùbá-speaking areas of Bénin and Nigeria, particularly how media-makers and their productions foster transnational solidarity despite obstacles created by colonial-era borders, Christian–Muslim animosities, and precarious economic conditions. Smithson's hands-on approach to ethnographic research has led him to apprentice to video filmmakers and to co-produce a full-length, Yorùbá-language movie along with members of a Yorùbá filmmaking collective.