Good evening and thank you for "showing up" tonight. Aurofilm is happy to present an independent American comedy-drama of 2022 by Kelly Reichardt.

She has become a major independent director in the last few years. She was awarded the "Carosse d'Or" in Cannes in 2022, a recognition given by movie directors to their peers.

"Showing up" is her 8th movie. Aurofilm has shown previously "Wendy and Lucy" and "First Cow". It's her 4th collaboration with actor Michelle Williams, 5th with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt, the 6th with screenwriter Jon Raymond, and the 7th with the producers.

Reichardt’s films have been described as “minimalist” with a lot of attention to details, focusing on characters at the margin of society.

It is also her first movie with elements of comedy. Like all of Kelly Reichardt's movies, it's a story about small joys and frustrations, giving them a kind of universal human dimension through particular situations.

Origin

"The project was originally conceived as a biopic of Canadian artist Emily Carr and the 10 years she spent as a landlord hoping it would offer her more free time to work on her art, but instead forced her to paint less".

But when the director discovered that Emily Carr is a well known artist in Canada, she decided to change the plot, still on the idea of exploring the relation between the artistic creation and the struggles of daily life.

So the film is probably also about Kelly Reichardt's experience as an artist and a reflection on artistic creation, as her movies seem to be handcrafted like the art pieces shown in the film.

Location

The location is important as it participates to the mood of the film. Filmed on location in Portland, Oregon (as most of K. Reichardt's movies) at the "Oregon College of Arts and Crafts".

It was a private art college, kind of enclave in Portland for artists, closed in 2019. Thanks to the "interesting time" of Covid 19, the place was empty and could be used for filming.

About art colleges

She stated: for art schools "critical thinking is a necessity, and that that’s good for democracy. With the closures of art schools and the drop-off in humanities, you can see where that’s a direct loss for the country.”

Final words

Finally, let me borrow for myself another quote of Kelly Reichardt: “Keep in mind, I don’t have my finger on any pulse. I don’t know what I’m talking about, really.”