FIRST COW: POST-FILM Q&A w/ KELLY REICHARDT (RESCHEDULED TBA)

FRIDAY, APRIL 17 2020 – 36th Olympia Film Festival
Opening Night Film:
FIRST COW
Post-film Q&A w/ director Kelly Reichardt
Moderated by Vanity Fair’s chief critic Richard Lawson
7:00pm doors / 8:00pm film
$25 general admission / $20 OFS
Kelly Reichardt once again trains her perceptive and patient eye on the Pacific Northwest, this time evoking an authentically hardscrabble early nineteenth century way of life. A taciturn loner and skilled cook (John Magaro) has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon Territory, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) also seeking his fortune; soon the two collaborate on a successful business, although its longevity is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a nearby wealthy landowner’s prized milking cow. From this simple premise Reichardt constructs an interrogation of foundational Americana that recalls her earlier triumph Old Joy in its sensitive depiction of male friendship, yet is driven by a mounting suspense all its own. Reichardt again shows her distinct talent for depicting the peculiar rhythms of daily living and ability to capture the immense, unsettling quietude of rural America.
Dir: Kelly Reichardt / 2020 / US / 122 min

KELLY REICHARDT

A retrospective of Kelly Reichardt’s work took place at the Museum of Modern Art in the fall of 2017. Her feature films include: RIVER OF GRASS (1994), OLD JOY (2006), WENDY AND LUCY (2008), MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010), NIGHT MOVES (2013), CERTAIN WOMEN (2016) and FIRST COW (2019). Grants: United States Artists Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Anonymous Was a Woman Award, Renew Media Fellowship. Special Screenings: Whitney Biennial (2012), Film Forum, Cannes Film Festival in “Un Certain Regard,” Venice International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Viennale Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, BFI London Film Festival. Retrospectives: Anthology Film Archives, Pacific Film Archive, Museum of the Moving Image, Walker Art Center, American Cinematheque Los Angeles, European Touring Retrospective (The American Landscape: The Films of Kelly Reichardt). Teaching: currently S. William Senfeld Artist-in-Residence at Bard College. Publications: ReFocus: The Films of Kelly Reichardt, E. Dawn Hall, Edinburgh University Press.