By Margarita Sophia Cortes
Jennifer Reeder is an award-winning filmmaker who is best known for her short films, including Blood Below the Skin (2015), which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival, and A Million Miles Away (2014), which was celebrated at the Sundance Film Festival.
Reeder’s narrative feature debut film, Signature Move, premiered at 2017’s SXSW Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Gamechanger” award. It received the Grand Jury Award for “Outstanding American Narrative Feature” at L.A. Outfest, and Reeder took home the “Best Director Award” at FilmOut San Diego. The film was featured as “one of the 50 most anticipated American films of 2017” by Filmmaker Magazine.
This multi-cultural romance about life, love and lady Lucha-style wrestling is opening in NYC this Friday, October 13th. We caught up with Jennifer Reeder as she heads to Friday’s opening screening event to get her perspective on breaking down doors.
It’s something that I’ve been aware of for quite a while, in terms of casting or who I want to write a story about or who I want to put in front of my camera because that’s their story but also as a form of social justice. We made a commitment to have lots of women behind the camera. It wasn’t just me as a director. The first assistant director was a woman, there were two female producers, the art department was all women, the makeup department was all women, the camera department was women. The amazing Indian cinema legend Shabana Azmi, who plays ‘Parveen,’ made a point to say, ‘This set feels different with all of these women in front of and behind the camera.’
There was so much scrutiny on Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman but it held up under such a different kind of microscope than Guardians of the Galaxy or Captain America or any of these other superhero movies, and I love that it obliterated the box-office worldwide. If we continue to be vocal in demanding equality, studios are going to start giving female directors these jobs because they’ll be tired of getting so much shit about it. They’ll be like, ‘fine, find a woman to direct this film.’ They should be like, ‘Awesome, she’s a great director, let’s give her a chance on this,’ but if they’re simply responding to a backlash, that’s fine. I don’t care how the door opens, I’m just like, ‘open the fucking door.’
I am fascinated by how particular and precise our coping mechanisms are as humans. There are so many films that get it wrong, especially when it comes to how women respond to trauma. We’re so used to seeing a woman who turns into a raging bitch or is just crying all the time. In real life we do the most beautifully strange things, and trauma can be quite a small thing for some people or a catastrophe for others.I have never made a film that is about masculinity, so I’m curious about that. I have three young sons so I’m surrounded by a lot of boy energy. I owe it to them to make a film that has a lot of that masculine energy, but also that comes from my perspective as a feminist filmmaker. With fire and explosions and car chases… Let’s do it!
Signature Move (Newcity) is directed by Jennifer Reeder, co written by Fawzia Mirza and Lisa Donato and stars Fawzia Mirza and Sari Sanchez. The film opens in New York City at the Village East beginning Friday, October 13th.
Margarita Sophia Cortes serves on the executive board of NYWIFT as the Vice President of Communications. Follow her on @BKprgal and @MSophiaPR for more.
Margarita Sophia Cortes
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Chicava Roslyn Tate
Welcome to NYWIFT, Chicava Roslyn Tate! Chicava is a burlesque artist, actor, producer, and leading scholar of Black women in burlesque. For more than 15 years, she served as Creative Producer of New York City's Brown Girls Burlesque, developing political and theatrical shows across the United States and internationally. She holds an MFA from Goddard College, where her studies focused on Black burlesque herstory, Taoism, and sacred sexuality. Chicava’s work spans performance, film, and scholarship, including directing The Skin I’m In, co-writing and directing Becoming Betty Page, and developing the docu-series Black Bombshells, which explores the history and cultural legacy of Black women in burlesque and pinup. As an actor, she has appeared in Chock Full Till Empty, Nicole Franklin’s Title VII, and Spike Lee’s film She Hate Me. In our interview, Chicava reflected on her creative journey, the overlooked history of Black women in burlesque, and the projects she is developing to preserve and celebrate this cultural legacy.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Nicole Murray
Welcome to NYWIFT, Nicole Murray! Nicole is a producer, writer, actor, and co-founder of Svelte Dog Productions. She has produced and acted in various productions, including the feature films Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox and Death Perception, both receiving distribution this year. Under the Svelte Dog umbrella, she has also produced, co-wrote, and starred in the award-winning short 3 Easy Steps and the short Run Out Groove, which premiered in the Platinum Showcase at Outfest. Svelte Dog prioritizes representation in film, and both projects consisted of a team of an entirely women and non-binary cast and crew. Nicole comes from a science background, with years of research experience in the addiction and individual differences fields. Get to know her in our latest interview!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Rachel Fleit
Welcome to NYWIFT, Rachel Fleit! Rachel is a writer, director, and producer known for her intimate, character-driven storytelling across documentary and narrative film and television. With a background in fashion and business, Rachel brings both creative sensitivity and an entrepreneurial mindset to her work, balancing artistic vision with thoughtful leadership. Rachel directed the acclaimed documentary Introducing, Selma Blair and has helmed projects including Bama Rush and Sugar Babies, each reflecting her commitment to emotional honesty and layered storytelling. Her latest award-winning documentary, The Slightest Touch—which follows the extraordinary friendship between Emma Fogarty, who lives with epidermolysis bullosa, and actor Colin Farrell—has been acquired by HBO Documentary Films and is slated to premiere later this year on HBO Max. In our interview, she reflected on building trust with her subjects, navigating personal and cultural storytelling, and the creative directions she’s most excited to explore next.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Alyssa Lomuscio
Welcome to NYWIFT, Alyssa Lomuscio! Alyssa Lomuscio is a TV editor, story producer, and assistant director based in NYC. Her work as a story producer has earned her two Daytime Emmy award nominations in the Outstanding Lifestyle Program category. She is also a science fiction writer of short stories, novels and screenplays under the pen name A.M. Lomuscio. A 2019 Clarion writer’s workshop alum, her short fiction can be found in Apex magazine and Uncharted. In our interview, Alyssa discussed her time balancing being an AD and a writer and shared stories of working in TV.
READ MORE
