Kelly Reichardt is a screenwriter and film director working within American indie cinema. Her credits include Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy, and Meek's Cutoff.

Biography

Her debut film River of Grass was released in 1994. It was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1999, she completed her sophomore feature, Ode, based on Herman Raucher's novel Ode to Billie Joe. Next, she made two short films, Then a Year, made in 2001, and Travis, which deals with the Iraq War, in 2004.

Most of her films are regarded to be part of the minimalist movement in films.

In 2006, she completed Old Joy, based on a short story in Jon Raymond's collection Livability. Daniel London and singer-songwriter Will Oldham portray two friends who reunite for a camping trip to the Cascades and Bagby Hot Springs, near Portland, Oregon. The film won awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Sarasota Film Festival. Neil Kopp won the Producer's Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards for his work on Old Joy and Paranoid Park.

For her next film, Wendy and Lucy, she and Jon Raymond adapted another story from Livability. The film was released in December 2008 and earned Oscar buzz for lead actress Michelle Williams. It was nominated for Best Film and Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards.

She then directed Meek's Cutoff, a western starring Michelle Williams. It competed for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

In 2013 her film Night Moves debuted in competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.

Reichardt is also an Artist-in-Residence in the Film and Electronic Arts program at Bard College.

Best films