After making her name as an actress in the Hollywood industry, Kristen Stewart is all set to mark her directorial debut. Her upcoming feature is an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir “The Chronology of Water.” Moreover, for this project, Stewart is stepping away from Hollywood. Instead of filming the Imogen Poots-starring biographical drama in Los Angeles, Stewart is planning to shoot the movie in Europe.
Speaking with Net-a-Porter, the 34-year-old actress shared that she is making “The Chronology of Water” in Latvia. She told the publication that the decision stemmed from craving creative freedom without the confines of Tinseltown. She explained, “It’s a fledging film culture there [in Latvia]. Look, I’m all about the way we make movies here [in the US], but I needed a sort of radical detachment. I am not a director yet. I need to make a student film, and I can’t do that here.”
The Latvian film sets will be transformed to fit the various U.S. cities featured in the film, including New York and San Diego.
Kristen Stewart’s take on female filmmakers of the industry
Kristen Stewart will soon be commencing her first directorial feature film, but this isn’t the first time she will be helming something. The actress made her directorial debut with the 2017 short film “Come Swim” and has also directed visual projects for musicians like Boygenius.
Now that she has gained some experience in the field, Stewart is now set to broaden her scope by directing a full-length film, which is also written by her. However, her stance regarding female filmmakers is critical of the industry’s treatment of women. While discussing her upcoming project, Stewart called out Hollywood for forcing women to compromise as filmmakers to succeed. The actress said,
“[There’s a] thinking that we can check these little boxes, and then do away with the patriarchy, and how we’re all made of it. It’s easy for them to be like, ‘Look what we’re doing. We’re making Maggie Gyllenhaal’s movie! We’re making Margot Robbie’s movie!’ And you’re like, ‘OK, cool. You’ve chosen four.
As for her upcoming project, Stewart shared that, at the time of the interview, she was in “soft prep” for “The Chronology of Water,” two weeks away from officially beginning the production process.
Earlier, Stewart told Rolling Stone that the film, which has been trying to make for seven years, is “radical in a million ways,” which is why it had been so difficult to find someone to finance it, she said. The story tackles childhood sexual abuse, queer romance, BSDM, and addiction, among other challenging subjects.
Apart from “The Chronology of Water,” Stewart is also attached to play Joan Vollmer, the most prominent female member of the Beat Generation, alongside Ben Foster in his untitled directorial debut, a film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ early works and letters. Stewart is also slated to play Susan Sontag in a biopic titled “Sontag” and star with Michael Cera in the road trip comedy “Sacramento.
