Credit: Getty Images for Breaking Through the Lens

On May 16th, nonprofit company Breaking Through the Lens held its annual event during which it announced its newest grant, specifically intended to uplift female filmmakers and provide them with the necessary resources to get their projects adequately represented and displayed. Headlining this event was critically acclaimed actress Kristen Stewart, who took some time to discuss her soon to be released directorial debut “The Chronology of Water.”

Kristen Stewart gave some insight on how this new film came to be, “It’s interesting that I was talking about it in 2018 and probably shouldn't have been, because most movies are a decade in the making,” Stewart said. “Thank god I stamped my feet because if I didn't, it wouldn't have happened. I did have to throw a public temper tantrum in order to get this done.” She continued, “I think process is everything. You must bespoke your process and if you accept a standardized series of events, you're going to make something that’s been seen before. And in this case, it wasn't a slug line that was marketable or commercial. It’s quite difficult material… it's full of secrets because women have been forced to hide everything that hurts and everything that feels good.”

 Stewart also delved into the details of her creative process. She discussed her decision to use 16mm film in shooting saying  “I wanted to choose a few moments in life and to make them feel like an externalized internal experience, which is kaleidoscopic and unruly. It’s an amalgamation of your subconscious… I didn’t want to record my movie, I wanted to take pictures, and then I wanted to slice them up. It’s the way your life flashes before your eyes sometimes.” She added, “It has this texture that feels like a dream, and what better place to talk about cinema related to dreams than in France.”

Additionally, Stewart feels many of her inspirations are other female filmmakers. Many of these figures of inspiration were present in the film, Stewart spoke to her experience coordinating this saying “You have to reach out. I had the same experience that my composer had when she reached out to me having never composed music for a film…. I wrote a letter to Lidia. It happened fast and really impulsively. I wrote Fiona [Apple] a letter. She wrote me back…” She added, “you grow towards each other and if you question it, you limit the work. They listened when it was really hard to get people to listen.”

The discussion rounded out on the topic of personal discovery through making this film. “I am such an actor. I love to be an actor. It's so physical.” Said Stewart, “But there's this fallacy that you need to have experience or technical adeptness [to direct]...It’s safeguarding the business. It’s a real male perspective. If I've learned anything, it’s just that I don't need anything more. Of course we’re going to grow and get better at what we do, but I’ve always had it [in me]...  I can't wait for the next one.”