Reichardt, whose recent film FIRST COW has been sited on several “best film of 2020” lists, is presented with the Robby Muller Award and speaks with Ann-Marie Corvin of Variety:
‘First Cow’ Director Kelly Reichardt on the ‘Daily Process of Making Art’
Accepting the Robby Muller award online this week, ahead of a talk at the International Film Festival Rotterdam to celebrate her work, Kelly Reichardt appeared delighted with its form.
In its second year, the award has taken the guise of an enlarged Polaroid print featuring a solitary tree, which was taken by Muller on a winter’s day in Munich during the eighties.
Both Muller and the award’s recipient have a talent for capturing landscapes and Reichardt said that she studied the late cinematographer’s work closely early in her career to “try and figure out the connection between what you dream of and what you can actually capture.”
She recalls making her first film, “River of Grass” in the early nineties, which focused on her native Miami landscapes, as she honed her own distinct voice and vision.
“I knew I needed to school myself in lenses after that film because every set up of that camera informed me of what I didn’t know, and what I needed to figure out,” she told IFFR’s online Big Talk audience.
Reichardt added that she also learned to edit during this feature, under the tutelage of jack-of-all trades filmmaker Larry Fessenden.
This debut marked the start of many reoccurring themes in her work including corporations’ lasting impact on landscapes, society and individuals.
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