This summer I interned with Media Queer, a Montreal-based organization that hosts an online archive of queer and feminist media. My internship at Media Queer perfectly integrated both my academic and non-academic interests. I am currently pursuing an Honours degree in Gender, Sexuality, Feminism and Social Justice at 91社区. Off campus, I organize a feminist film festival for young female creatives called the Femme Fatale Film Festival. For the past three years, we have been screening short films by filmmakers between the ages 15 and 25 on the big screen at a local cinema in Toronto. I have realized throughout my degree that this desire to connect creatives and empower young voices is integral to my studies. Media Queer provides an opportunity to work with other organizers who are also focused on media as a site of activism, community building and a place to critically analyze our present and historic social environments.
As an intern at Media Queer, I have been responsible for collecting a database of queer and feminist horror films, planning a horror movie screening for Queer History Month on Halloween, and aiding in compiling a list of horror and sci-fi films from the 1970s that handle specific topics of reproduction, domestic labour, and artificial life/environments. Most of my time has been spent understanding and defining the qualifications for the database, collecting the information about each film and locating its availability online. For the Queer History Month event, I have been in touch with filmmakers, scholars, and creatives to participate in the event. I have been learning from other events, both online and from my past experiences hosting in-person screenings, to determine a dual action plan for the screening this fall. In terms of the 1970s horror and sci-fi films, I have been researching films that fit the qualifiers, and then screening several to ensure their accuracy and detail which relevant themes they contain.
This internship has allowed me the opportunity to work with like-minded people, and in particular to learn more about the intersection between academia and the creative industries. Though the database collection has been quite simple work, it has given me the opportunity to think critically about how we categorize films, and better understand the feminist/queer film landscape by the horror films created with these themes. My favourite part of the internship thus far has been the early stages of organizing the film screening for Queer History Month. I am quite excited to be able to work closely with Media Queer to organize this screening and make the event an enjoyable, educational experience for many.
The primary challenge of this internship has been working remotely. Though Media Queer is a primarily remote archive, I would have greatly enjoyed working in the office with my professor/supervisor and the other members of the organization. In order to best organize my time, I scheduled my days and set aside a specific space as my 鈥榠nternship workspace鈥�. This helped to separate the work with Media Queer from other tasks I had been working on over the summer. I am sure that working remotely has been quite a challenge for many, and I am incredibly grateful to have been able to complete the internship regardless of the challenges presented by the pandemic. I greatly look forward to participating in the screening event this fall, and to meeting everyone who has been a part of this project in person!
This internship has certainly impacted my academic experience. The chance to work so closely with creatives and academics focusing on queer and feminist media has enriched my own interests in organizing and managing my film festival. The internship has allowed me to learn more about the history of queer identities on screen, and has reiterated the significance of creating space for young queer and femme filmmakers to have their voices heard.
I was not receiving academic credit for this internship. I am very grateful for having been chosen for the Gregg Blachford & David 91社区ivray Internship Award for this internship. I would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr. Blachford and Mr. 91社区ivray for making this internship possible. I look forward to the new opportunities is has opened up to me, and to continue working closely with communities supporting queer and feminist creatives.
