Davina Pardo moved to Stanford from Toronto, Canada, where she was director David Cronenberg's assistant for two years. Before that, she was an editor for an online medical journal and a research assistant in psychology and women's health. She studied English and Photography at Amherst College. Davina is currently working on her thesis film, a 20-minute portrait of a young Rwandan genocide survivor who now lives in Toronto.
Yesterday in Rwanda
digital video
14:19 min.
A Rwandan genocide survivor remembers the past while rebuilding her life in Canada. Film images of Rwanda combined with video footage of Toronto reveal the texture of memory and a survivor's daily struggle to live with yesterday.
Birdlings Two
16mm, color film
6:01 min.
The filmmaker revisits a computer-animated film her father made when he was 20, exploring the relationship between art and invention, hopes and disappointment, and fathers and daughters. FESTIVALS:
Distibuted by Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC)
Spotters
Co-directed by Katherine Leggett and Davina Pardo
digital video
8:05 min.
Plane spotters spend their weekends at the airport with cameras and pens poised, searching the runways and skies for planes to add to their life lists. Spotters asks two plane spotters what they see when they watch planes. Their answer is a meditation on photography and memory.
FESTIVALS:
- Marin County Festival of Short Film and Video, 2004, Jury Award
- Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2004
- Real to Reel Film and Video Festival, 2004
- Oakland International Film Festival, 2004, Honorable Mention, Best Short Documentary
- True/False Film Festival 2005
- Wisconsin Film Festival, 2005
- San Francisco's Documentary Film Festival, 2005
- Cantor Arts Festival, Stanford University, 2004
Mother's Milk
16mm, black and white film
3:27 min.
Breastfeeding comes naturally--for some mothers. At the Mothers' Milk Bank in San Jose, CA, a tension between the natural and the clinical is revealed.