Slamdance / Chicago Feminist Film Festival 2019 – Exit Strategy #4
I confront memories and repercussions of my eating disorders. The fourth in a series regarding my ability to cope with my emotional and physical traumas.
Interview with Writer/Director/Editor/Actor Kym McDaniel
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you. My Exit Strategy #4 is in a series I am making about trauma recovery. I suffer from widespread chronic pain and fatigue that began after a head injury several years ago. I wanted to experiment and see if my chronic pain would lessen if I released memories and feelings that I had repressed/silenced due to emotional pain, shame, or humiliation. I was a dancer before the injury, so the series also began as a way to access dance/movement/the body outside of live performance.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
30 million people have an eating disorder in the US, and every 62 minutes a person dies from one. I hope my story may help humanize the disorder, and others may reach out or seek help.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I am inspired by Chantal Akerman and believe her quote that the personal is political.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The writing and edit has gone through many iterations over the last two years. The project acted as a catalyst to an emotional unraveling. I spent about a year and a half making variations of the work steeped in allegory, until I realized my habit of using allegory as a defense mechanism to avoid vulnerability. After that realization, I trashed the edit I had been working on and went back to one of my first edits in order to start over.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
There is an image at the end of the film I get asked about. It is a photograph of when I was 14 and very thin/sick.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I feel like receiving feedback has been an opportunity to see how I react to someone either validating or invalidating my (body) image.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to connect with a wider audience, those unable to see the film screen in person.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The films within the series are created to be screened modularly, but, I am looking forward to seeing all six Exit Strategies screen together. Once completed, I would like them to be distributed as one feature.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
As a dancer, I first learned about the kinesthetic empathetic response between the audience and performer connection. As a filmmaker, I find this exchange more challenging. I’m interested in impact and response when the 2D nature of a medium may contribute to detachment from subject.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How do you make work about on-going personal, societal, cultural, and/or systemic issues while simultaneously giving yourself time, space, and emotional distance to heal? What ethics are at play when you make work about a person you are in relationship with?
Would you like to add anything else?
More information about eating disorders, statistics, and getting help can be found at the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) website- https://anad.org/ . There is also an ANAD helpline at 630-577-1330.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
As a filmmaker, I am working in post on Exit Strategies #5 and 6. I am hoping to finish the series this year and distribute as a collective. I am also making a projection for Simone Ferro's dance work to be performed at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Winterdances concert this February. As a choreographer, I was invited by Minneapolis-based dance company Little Works to choreograph a piece for their summer concert.
Interview: January 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Exit Strategy #4
I confront memories and repercussions of my eating disorders. The fourth in a series regarding my ability to cope with my emotional and physical traumas.
Length: 8:41
Director: Kym McDaniel
Producer: Kym McDaniel
Writer: Kym McDaniel
About the writer, director and producer:
KYM MCDANIEL is a filmmaker, choreographer, and performer. Her work explores themes of vulnerability, resistance, and trauma recovery. In 2015, she became certified as an AmSAT Alexander Technique teacher. She studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she has an MFA in Film, Video, Animation & New Genres.
Key cast: "Kym McDaniel (director, editor, writer, dancer), Amy Sutheimer (dancer)
Looking for: distributors, film festival directors, journalists, buyers, sales agents, producers
Facebook: Kym McDaniel
Instagram: @kymcdaniel
Website: www.kymmcdaniel.com
Other: Vimeo
Funders:
Made in association with:
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Slamdance/Park City- January 28, 2019, Chicago Feminist Film Festival/Chicago, March 1, 2019