Filmmaker Jennifer Reeder, director of “Knives and Skin.”
Where is Carolyn Harper? The coming of age thriller “Knives and Skin” (trailer) by award-winning filmmaker Jennifer Reeder will be presented by Light Work’s Urban Video Project (UVP) on Thursday, Nov. 7, from 5:30–8 p.m. The free indoor screening will take place at Watson Hall Auditorium in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center.
A post-screening conversation and Q&A with Reeder will be moderated by Anneke Herre, instructor of transmedia core in the Department of Transmedia and director of Urban Video Project. The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and CART services are available by reservation (please request by Nov. 1 if needed) by calling 315.443.1369 or emailing info@urbanvideoproject.com. Light refreshments will be served before and after the program. The screening, artist talk and Q&A are free and open to the public.
Paid parking is available in the Booth Garage at the intersection of Comstock and Waverly Avenues. Metered parking is also available in front of Bird Library, on Walnut Avenue and on Comstock Avenue. For additional parking information, visit parking.syr.edu.
The Plot (Thickens)
A missing girl shakes up a small town, join us to follow the investigation. Steeped in macabre humor and queer feminist attitude, Reeder’s “Knives and Skin” follows the investigation of a young girl’s disappearance in the rural Midwest, led by an inexperienced local sheriff. Unusual coping techniques develop among the traumatized small-town residents with each new secret revealed. The ripple of fear and suspicion destroys some relationships and strengthens others. The teenagers experience an accelerated loss of innocence while their parents are forced to confront adulthood failures. This mystical teen noir presents coming of age as a lifelong process and examines the profound impact of grief.
The main characters’ girlhood is a place of transcendence but also transgression in a movie that embraces its own style. Reeder’s teen noir draws on a rich cultural DNA of genre classics, from the surreal horror of David Lynch to high school classics like John Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club” and Mark Waters’ “Mean Girls,” giving them a decidedly feminist spin. Reeder also peppers the drama with female empowerment messages and subtle homages to feminist icons including Angela Davis, Yoko Ono and Chantal Akerman.
About the Filmmaker
Reeder constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma and coping. Her award-winning narratives borrow from a range of forms, including after-school specials, amateur music videos and magical realism. These films have shown around the world, including at the Sundance Film Festival, Berlinale, the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, South by Southwest, the Wexner Center and in The Whitney Biennial. She is the recipient of Rockefeller and Creative Capital grants. She currently teaches in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
This screening, held in conjunction with the exhibition Hold/Release, features short experimental works by Reeder, Kelly Sears and Lauren Wolkstein investigating the female body through tropes and traps of cinematic production. The exhibition will be on view at Light Work UVP’s architectural projection venue on the Everson Museum of Art Plaza from Nov. 7-Dec. 21, 2019, every Thursday through Saturday from dusk to 11 p.m.
Also in conjunction with the exhibition, a special indoor screening of a program curated by the three artists titled “The Eyeslicer presents Marlon said to me, ‘Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie'” will screen on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. inside the Everson Museum with participating filmmaker Kelly Gallagher in attendance.
Sponsors
This exhibition was supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The artist lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
About Urban Video Project
Urban Video Project (UVP), a program of Light Work in partnership with the Everson Museum of Art and Onondaga County, is an outdoor architectural projection site dedicated to the public presentation of film, video and moving image arts. It is one of the few projects in the United States dedicated to ongoing public projections and adds a new chapter to Central New York’s legacy as one of the birthplaces of video art, using cutting-edge technology to bring art of the highest caliber to Syracuse.
Using a large venue projector and permanently installed all-weather sound system, UVP’s outdoor architectural projection site on the north façade of the iconic Everson Museum of Art transforms the adjoining Onondaga County Community Plaza into a year-round massive video installation every Thursday through Saturday night. For general information, please visit www.urbanvideoproject.com, call 315.443.1369 or email info@urbanvideoproject.com.
