A scene from ‘Blood Below the Skin’ (2015)
University of Illinois-Chicago professor and ever-prolific filmmaker Jennifer Reeder will appear this Saturday, Apr 11 at the Wisconsin Film Festival to present a trio of 30-minute narrative films that she’s made this decade. Flirting with magical realism, they examine the complex relationships of young suburban women and experiment with a poignantly musical synchronicity. While the three shorts in the program, under the umbrella of her most recent Blood Below the Skin, all share an emotional link, they also geographically connect in the US Midwest.
In interviews, including a local one recently conducted by James Kreul for Isthmus, Reeder suggests that coming-of-age is an ongoing process throughout one’s life, which is thematically represented in the series’ examination of self-discovery and boldly unconventional characterizations. Furthermore, the director’s credo asserts that her invigorating film projects are forms of both social and artistic activism that “conceptually challenge the differentiation between commercial and artistic practice.” This adaptability has encouraged not only a steady work ethic but elicited an uncanny nostalgic innovation, particularly if renditions of ’80s pop tunes have ever instigated a memory of a rite of passage.
For more information on Reeder’s work, please visit UIC’s School of Art and Art History faculty page.
Excerpt from And I Will Rise if Only to Hold You Down (2011):
A Million Miles Away (2014) teaser:
Excerpt from Blood Below the Skin (2015):
- Blood Below the Skin: Films by Jennifer Reeder screens during the Wisconsin Film Festival at the Cinematheque – 4070 Vilas Hall – on Sat, Apr 11 (7:00p) with an introduction and post-screening discussion guided by the director herself. Tickets are still available.