Interview: Kristen Stewart Discusses Being a Female Filmmaker and Her Debut Behind the Camera with ‘The Chronology of Water’

Kristen Stewart has wanted to direct for years. That The Chronology of Water is what she finally was able to make is both noteworthy and also kind of obvious. Her burning desire to make a film was never going to translate to an ordinary picture, so the fact that it’s challenging is hardly surprising. That it’s so accomplished and full formed, however, is a testament to her talents. This may be the first movie she’s made, but I’m very confident that it won’t be the last. I’ve previously spoken to her star Imogen Poots (here) and another member of her cast in Jim Belushi (here) about the flick. Today, it’s Stewart’s turn to chat.

In my review of The Chronology of Water (here), I spoke of Stewart’s filmmaking like so:

Kristen Stewart impressed the hell out of me with her filmmaking. Adapting the memoir and directing, she makes The Chronology of Water all about the feelings of abuse and trauma. Anyone who has gone through something even close to what Lidia has will find the flick potentially unbearable, though you don’t have to have had that experience in order to recognize how precisely this is all executed. I might quibble with the over two hour run time, given how fragmented things get, but Stewart also absolutely aces her casting, especially with Belushi and Poots, so for whatever issue the pacing has, the performers are too good to ignore. Impressionistic and never playing it safe, Stewart should be able to tackle anything she wants next, behind the camera.

Below, you can see my discussion with Stewart. Having already chatted with Belushi and Poots, I’d heard them both rave about working with her, so she was clearly thrilled to have had that kind of impact on her cast members. We talk about why directing is so important to her, what being a female filmmaker actually means, and more. We’re very much on the same page here and get into more than I expected, given our brief amount of time scheduled. Not only should you seek out The Chronology of Water for both Poots’ performance and Stewart’s filmmaking, you should anticipate whatever she chooses to write and/or direct next. Stewart very much has the goods, as well as the drive, so something special is undoubtedly brewing.

Here now is my interview with The Chronology of Water filmmaker Kristen Stewart. Enjoy:

The Chronology of Water is in theaters now!