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Imperfect Diasporic Yearning B.S.

"My final project is a film essay called “Imperfect.” It lasts a little over 18 minutes and combines direct to camera and more observed performance, as well as photography. In the course Serious Play in the OralHistory M.A. program at Columbia University, I was inspired by “Public Obscenities,” “The Moth,” and Svetlana Alexievich. Outside of that course, I was inspired by concepts introduced or affirmed in my classes Writing from Personal Archives (Lydia DeFusto), Roots & Branches (Nyssa Chow), and OralHistory Workshop (Amy Starecheski). On the surface, this piece is about diasporic yearning. I tried to convey my relationship with this term, which is complicated. On one hand, I genuinely feel a desire for connection with the Motherland. On the other hand, I feel anxiety, awkwardness, and annoyance with the term, especially when I sense pressure to express it a certain way, using academic language. Then it bothers me for being performative. I mean that in an anthropological sense, not a theatrical sense. I do not want to perform an emotion to be seen as socially “competent” and validated in that way.

My on-screen persona sings/hums Jefferson Starship's “Miracles” because of how I explain I believe my parents' relationship is something of a miracle. I wanted to choose a song that was popular during the time they met: 1981. Because I reference my parents' relation-ship, I wanted to show my relationship on-screen with my boyfriend Aaron at the end. I consider our relationship something of a miracle because of the timing with my divorce and how our connection was strong from the start. He is always willing to collaborate on any-thing I make, but also asks about exactly how I want him to participate. This is a form of respecting boundaries."

Christine Stoddard

Christine Stoddard is a writer, performer, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist named one of Brooklyn Magazine’s Top 50 Most Fascinating People in 2023. She founded Quail Bell Press & Productions, a creative studio. Her nationally award-winning play “Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares” had its workshop premiere at the Gene Frankel Theatre and its world premiere at The Tank as part of the core production program. You can watch the filmed version of the full play (now 7K views strong) on her YouTube channel Stoddard Says. Stoddard is known for her character act Art Bitch, which has been presented at Theater for the New City's Lower East Side Festival for the Arts, The Players Theatre, the NYC Talent Show, and beyond. She holds an MFA from The City College of New York and is an MS Documentary Film candidate at Columbia University. WorldOfChristineStoddard.com

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