When filmmaker Jennifer Reeder first picked up a video camera to record her dance performance in one of her classes, she fell in love and has been creating films ever since. Reeder said she “recovered a phantom limb.”  

Since then, Reeder’s films have focused on experiences that women and girls face. Her latest piece, “Knives and Skin” will be presented by Light Work’s Urban Video Project on Nov. 7 at Watson Hall Auditorium followed by a Q&A session with Reeder.  

Along with the upcoming screening of “Knives and Skin,” Reeder’s work is featured at the Everson Museum of Art as part of the exhibition “Hold/Release,” alongside the works of Kelly Sears and Lauren Wolkenstein. All of the work is experimental and covers similar topics related to women and the female body. 

The idea for the film came to Reeder when she was driving through her home state of Ohio. She envisioned a goth, punk teenager walking down a rural highway with her friends. This transformed into a story about a misfit girl who goes missing, and her disappearance shakes a small midwestern town, leading the residents to a psychotic awakening.   

Reeder said part of the film is more autobiographical as it has themes close to her, like female empowerment. She feels that by covering relevant and important topics in her films, it provides more for the audience.  

 “It’s a film that deals with issues around consent, it deals with issues around violence against women, and, in that way, it’s a real form of social justice.” 

The themes covered in all of Reeder’s films align with her feminist beliefs. Reeder considers herself a feminist committed to all aspects of human equality.  

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Although the film is not an activist documentary, the film encourages viewers to think deeply while it entertains audiences through a captivating plot, Reeder said. 

“Knives and Skin” also does not fall into one particular genre but embraces a handful of genres. 

Anneka Herre, the director of Urban Video Project at Light Work, has worked closely with Reeder to bring her film to Syracuse. She described the movie as a highly stylized film that combines elements of genres like horror and drama.  

Over the last several months, Herre has worked alongside Syracuse University faculty members Cooper Battersby and Emily Vey Duke to bring Reeder’s work to the community. Both were Reeder’s students while they were in graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  

Vey Duke said the film is especially remarkable because it crosses over between the world of experimental filmmaking and more conventional, mainstream filmmaking. She said she hopes that attendees of the screening leave the event with a better understanding of radical feminism, which is a major component of Reeder’s work. She added that having those beliefs can be alienating, but they shouldn’t be. 

“I think that’s one of the things that Jennifer’s work does, is to bring feminist ideas into a more mainstream discourse,” said Vey Duke. 

Reeder said she hopes that viewers of the film take away the importance of art and culture and how art, like her film, can be a conversation starter on difficult subjects.  

“I would hope that they would understand the importance of the place of art and culture and how art and culture can begin conversations around very potentially difficult and tough subject matter,” said Reeder.  

Published on November 3, 2019 at 11:37 pm

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