Showing Up: What we know so far about Kelly Reichardt’s new film

All we know so far about Kelly Reichardt’s upcoming eighth feature, Showing Up, which stars Michelle Williams.

We wrote the first non-academic book about Kelly Reichardt’s work, the ebook Roads to nowhere: Kelly Reichardt’s broken American dreams. Get your copy here.

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Rejoice, Kelly Reichardt fans! The filmmaker is back this month with a new feature film, Showing Up!  Reichardt’s eighth feature film will premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival later this month. 

In 2020, we published the critically acclaimed ebook  Roads to nowhere: Kelly Reichardt’s broken American dreams. It’s the only non-academic book about Reichardt’s work and the only book covering all of Reichardt’s work leading up to Showing Up. 

Roads to nowhere offers the first in-depth, 360-degree look at Reichardt’s process through interviews with Reichardt herself and her collaborators on First Cow, most of whom also worked on Showing Up, including cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (who has worked with her on every film since Meek’s Cutoff), author Jon Raymond (who co-wrote almost all of Kelly’s Oregon films, including Showing Up), and costume designer April Napier (Certain Women, First Cow). If you want the inside scoop on how Showing Up was made, you’ll learn all about Kelly’s process here.

Here’s what we know so far about Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up.

Who’s in Showing Up?

The star of Showing Up is Kelly Reichart’s longtime collaborator Michelle Williams. This will be her fourth starring role in a Reichardt film following Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, and Certain Women.

The cast is stacked with plenty of other Reichardt regulars, such as James Le Gros (Night Moves, Certain Women), Larry Fessenden (Reichardt’s longtime friend who starred in and edited River of Grass), and John Magaro (the star of First Cow).

Amongst them are a number of actors who are appearing in a Reichardt film for the first time, such as Hong Chau, André 3000, Judd Hirsch, Amanda Plummer, Heather Lawless, and Matt Malloy.

What is Showing Up about?

The synopsis announced after the film was revealed as part of the Cannes Competition reads: “A sculptor preparing to open a new show must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends, in Kelly Reichardt’s vibrant and captivatingly funny portrait of art and craft.”

Who is on the filmmaking team for Showing Up?

Showing Up sees Kelly Reichardt reteaming with what her collaborators call “the family”. The film has been produced by her longtime collaborators Neil Kopp and Anish Savjani at Filmscience, who have worked with Reichardt since Old Joy (2006). They worked alongside A24, who also produced and distributed Reichardt’s previous film, First Cow (2019).

The production team features old Reichardt favourites who have worked on several of her films: cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (every film since Meek’s Cutoff), costume designer April Napier (every film since Certain Women), and production designer Anthony Gasparro (every film since Certain Women). All three are interviewed in our ebook Roads to nowhere about their process when working on a Reichardt film.

Are there any stills or on set pictures yet?

One still has been released so far. See below:

On top of that, if you’ve been following costume designer April Napier on Instagram, you may have seen a couple of behind-the-scenes snaps several months ago. Take a look:

1: april napier (@aprilroko) • Instagram photos and videos

2: april napier (@aprilroko) • Instagram photos and videos

3: april napier (@aprilroko) • Instagram photos and videos

It’s a Cannes milestone for Reichardt

Showing Up is Kelly Reichardt’s first film to screen in the Official Competition at Cannes. The festival previously premiered Wendy and Lucy (2008) in the Un Certain Regard Competition for emerging filmmakers. And Reichardt was on the Official Competition jury in 2019, the year that Parasite won the Palme d’Or. Being selected for the Cannes Competition is a “rare honour” for a female filmmaker: the festival rarely screens more than three films by women in Competition. Last year, they screened four, which was a major milestone; this year they’re screening five, the largest number to date. 

It’s even rarer for a non-French woman who is also not an actress to be selected for the prestigious competition. Even the festival’s sidebars have been much faster to catch up to gender parity (or close to it) than the Official Competition, and the festival as a whole still devalues women filmmakers in its selections. Reichardt’s selection this year follows Cahiers du Cinéma, the preeminent French film criticism publication, naming First Cow the #1 film of 2021. It would not surprise us if this had put pressure on the Competition to take her new work seriously.

Cannes may be late to the game, but Reichardt’s work has been widely recognised at many other prestigious film festivals. Meek’s Cutoff screened in the Venice Competition in 2010, as did Night Moves in 2013. Certain Women played in the (now defunct) “Masters” section of the Toronto International Film Festival (after a Sundance premiere). It’s an honour bestowed on few women directors (Alanis Obomsawin and Ann Hui were two of the only women regularly programmed in this section). First Cow, meanwhile, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival before heading to major European film festivals, including the Berlinale and IFFR. In short, a Cannes Competition slot is long overdue.

Not letting the Official Selection steal all the Reichardt thunder this year, the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes is also awarding Reichardt with the Carosse d’Or award this year, and programming a masterclass from her at the festival. Director’s Fortnight is a sidebar that was created as an alternative to the stodgy Official Competition, and has had a better track record of screening films by women. This even dates back to the 1970s, when they premiered Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman. More recently, the section has screened work by preeminent women directors, including Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace (and Winter’s Bone) and Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II. This year, the program features new work by some of our favourite filmmakers, including Alice Winocour, Mia Hansen-Løve, Léa Mysius, Anna Rose Holmer, and Saela Davis.