Kelly Reichardt (*1964) is arguably the most important independent filmmaker working in the US at the moment and one of contemporary American cinema’s most distinctive voices. Her films are about being on the move, about people setting out, losing their way, or looking for something. They interrogate their country, its myths, its everyday routines, its suburbs, and its nature, and are usually characterized by a deliberately minimalist directorial style. Nearly all of them are set in the landscape of the state of Oregon and were created in collaboration with writer Jon Raymond. Aside from this regional anchoring, they address many more far-reaching concerns, with their characters’ stories always alluding to existential states, social orders, and crises within society, without being ostensibly political. To coincide with the restoration of her largely overlooked feature debut RIVER OF GRASS (1994), we are showing Kelly Reichardt’s first five films in a short retrospective.
