Film by Rutgers Dance Instructor (and Alum) Hits Silver Screen for Festival

Kiana Rosa Fischer's "These Years" will among the short films screened on Sept. 13 in Rutgers-New Brunswick

Kiana Rosa Fischer is pretty darn busy.

Kiana Rosa Fischer

The mother of two - who is pregnant with her third - is a Rutgers University-New Brunswick alumni and a dance instructor at the Mason Gross School of the Arts. A freelance dancer and choreographer who also teaches Pilates, Fischer now sports another title: filmmaker.

In addition to raising a 4-year-old and an 18-month-old, the Highland Park resident wrote, produced and directed These Years, an eight-minute experimental dance film that is set to be screened with a collection of other short films as part of the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival.

An in-person screening of the films begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, in Room 105 of Voorhees Hall, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, N.J. The short films will be available online as on-demand videos for 24 hours on this day. The cost is $15 for both the online and in-person screening.

Fischer, who graduated from Mason Gross in 2016, discusses dance, her film and motherhood.

What drew you to dance? 

I can't really pinpoint one reason as to why I chose dance. I dabbled in almost every art form growing up, but dance is the one that stuck. I enjoy many aspects of dance, from its athleticism to emotional expression to community.

I think in the end, it just felt like the ultimate blend of all the other arts. It's singing, painting, storytelling and composing all with my body and other bodies, too.

How did you get involved in making this film?

Honestly, my current pregnancy sparked its creation. The timing of this third pregnancy was sooner than I had planned and wanted, which created questions, doubts and fears.

I was thinking a lot about motherhood, my role and duty as a mother along with my desire to be a mother, but also my desire to create-to write, dance, teach- and the question of whether or not those other desires will (or even should) slowly dissipate as my kids grow. But finally, a thought came to me and it was something like, "Just do something. Do it now. You have to do something now."

Making a dance film was the clearest option, as I didn't have to wait for a gig or a commission. I could just make something without anyone telling me or needing me to do so. 

What is These Years about?

These Years, unsurprisingly then, is a mediation and exploration of what I was feeling six months ago. The film wrestles with conflicting desires specifically surrounding motherhood, the desires to be within it, the desires to be apart from it, and the choices one needs to make because of it.

These Years, directed by Kiana Rosa Fischer, is a dance film exploring the conflicts in motherhood.

What do you hope audiences will take away from your film?

Whether or not mothers watch the film, I hope all people can enjoy the flow of the movement and the imagery they see as well as connect to the questions they hear. I hope people know it's OK to be confused sometimes and it's OK to not know where you're going. But it's also OK to finally get your feet on something solid, on solid ground that can carry you throughout life's doubts and questions.

What's your favorite Rutgers memory?

I think it was my sophomore year, we had a terrible blizzard. I was a commuter and couldn't get home, so I crashed at a friend's dorm where about four others were also crashing. It was such a bad storm. We didn't have classes for almost that whole week.

The week was just one big sleepover, we spent almost our whole days just laughing and eating at the dining hall, and then hollered and screamed with delight with every "classes canceled" email that came each evening.

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