Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up” will be screening on the final day of Cannes (5/27), which means I’ll have to find an advanced screening of it somewhere on the Croisette due the 27th being when I take my flight back home! I am not entirely sure what was the mindset behind the decision of having it screen so late into the fest, alas, it sucks.
Regardless, in an interview with Variety, Michelle Williams spilled the beans about her frequent collaborator/director Reichardt working so infrequently, and at such a low budget, that she has “spent a lot of time on [friends’] couches.
“Am I going to regret saying this? Kelly spent a lot of time on [friends’] couches. Even as a revered filmmaker, she teaches [at Bard College] to supplement her filmmaking. Because she makes films infrequently, she doesn’t have health insurance through the DGA. So, she has a theater named after her at the Sorbonne, but she has to teach to get health insurance.”
We already knew arthouse filmmaking didn’t make anyone rich, but this is on a whole other level. She almost sounds like a character in one of her movies.
It’s a real downer to read though, in part because everyone deserves to have healthcare, regardless of employment status, and also because Reichardt deserves the cash to make her beautiful films.
Someone did share something of interest on Twitter yesterday. Reichardt’s RateMyProfessor reviews are, surprisingly, mediocre. She has a 3.3 out of 5.
One former student writes:
“She is tough and will rip your work to pieces, but she knows what she is talking about and is SMART. She can make people cry, but she means well and has great knowledge of the film industry.”