A Short Interview with Visions4 Keynote, Kiva Reardon

Q1. Your resume is quite outstanding, where do you attribute your love of film and writing?

My dad worked in film when I was growing up, so I was started on a steady diet of the classics at a young age. (I wasn't allowed to watch commercial TV when I was a kid, but things like Citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia and The Birds were ok.) As for writing, I came to that a bit later during my undergrad. I was extremely lucky to discover (at the last minute) that I could major in Cultural Studies. McGill doesn't (and most likely never will!) have a film department and this major was the closest I could get to one. This lead me to really learning how to read film, both as an art form and as a political text. Two professors in particular, Alanna Thain and Ned Schantz, inspired me to continue writing. 

Q2. Who is your role model, and why?

I suppose I have a few. My mum, first of all, has always taught me to work, be independent and self-sufficient, while always remaining open-minded and generous to others. She has an amazing career and great interpersonal relationships, which is something I admire. On a different note, I take great inspiration from the work of Claire Denis, Nina Power's writing, and am very lucky to have a close friend who also acts as a mentor in many ways, Adam Nayman. 

Q3. Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career thus far.

Definitely cléo. Creating something from nothing with an incredible group of women has been an amazing experience. I hope it will continue to grow and attract new readers. We're working on grant applications now, which is the next big step for us. But one of the most significant moments in my career so far was actually quitting a very good, well-paid office job (with benefits!) to go back to school and get my Masters. It changed the direction of my work completely. 

Q4. When have you been most satisfied in your life?

That's hard to answer. I'm pretty bad at recognizing being satisfied with my work and always feel the drive to be moving to the next thing. 

Q5. You majored in cultural studies as an undergraduate, did you always have film/writing in mind for your future? Or was it something you discovered during your time at McGill University?

I suppose I already answered this, but to expand, it was at McGill. I always loved writing, but during this time I really started to love writing about film. In one course, Schantz structured his classes with weekly short writing assignments on films we've watched; looking back, I can see how similar this is to writing weekly reviews. 

Q6. If you could be doing anything 10 years from now, what would it be?

I would eventually like to be in a programming capacity at a film festival; not in film programming, but speaking series, community outreach and higher education. My favourite part about film is sharing, exhibiting and talking about them with a wide audience. I also always want to keep writing. 

Q7. At Visions4 we celebrate outstanding undergraduate work in the field film production of scholarly writing; what draws you to an event like this?

The period right after graduating was really scary for me, but it was also incredibly exciting. It felt like I had no idea what I was doing and thus I could try anything. Those on-the-cusp moments are amazing to be a part of; I'm going to try and relive it at Visions4!

Q8. What inspired you to create your own digital publication, cléo journal?

I was irked by the lack of female voices in film criticism, as well as the lack of female bylines in review sections, and I suspected that I couldn’t be alone in this point of view. I sent an email to a group of women, some friends, some who I knew professionally and some whom I met while doing my Masters, to gauge interest in working on starting a journal. The response from the group was overwhelming—and ultimately it is thanks to their excitement and productive criticism that the journal came to fruition.

Q9. To what do you owe your interest in feminist theory? and do you have a favorite author?

My mother always identified as a feminist, so I grew up with it in a way and it just seemed natural. I started studying it properly in undergrad; there, I remember a TA asking our seminar who thought of themselves as a feminist and only myself and another person raised their hand. It was a moment that crystallized feminism as being an active, political stance that people chose to identify with. As for favourite authors, Bell Hooks, I've been reading B. Ruby Rich lately, I keep Virginie Despentes' King Kong Theory on my desk and basically sleep with Nina Power's One Dimensional Woman under my pillow. One of my go-to texts is Interrogating Post-Feminism. 

Q10. What's your favorite film and why?

Oh, this honestly changes depending on my mood. I often default to saying Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg, Claire Denis' S'en fout la mort, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. 

Q11. Everyone has their guilty pleasure film, what's yours?

I don't believe in guilty pleasures, to be honest. My thinking is: like what you like, so long as you can intelligently articulate why!



Visit our website: www.visionsfilm.org