13 Excellent Female Filmmakers To Keep In Mind

Kelly Reichardt is almost like an even more minimalist Clint Eastwood, except maybe more poetic and less literal. She’s teamed with star Michelle Williams for two consecutive critically lauded independent films, Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff, the latter of which worthy of the anti-Western label that folks like to credit Eastwood for pioneering. Her movies are deliberately pieced together and difficult to interpret—slow-paced and cerebral. In Meek’s Cutoff, this seems entirely appropriate given that it’s a chronicle of pioneers making their way across the American frontier, far from an adrenaline rush of an experience. Her work seems perfectly suited for an actor like Williams, who embodies characters so fully and deeply that an aesthetic as careful and attentive as Reichardt’s makes room for the subtle touches of a nuanced performance to really shine through.

Continue reading on the next page…