Let’s celebrate woman indie filmmaking!

For our next movie we will focus on the 2010 western drama Meek’s Cutoff, directed by Kelly Reichardt. Loosely based on a true historical incident, the movie follows three families of settlers moving west in 1845 along the Oregon Trail.

Reichardt has become known for her detailed and minimalist realism, often showcasing naturalistic settings of the northwest. She finds drama in the struggles of ordinary people seeking security and happiness on the fringes. Meek’s Cutoff brings us into the grueling and mundane struggles of western settlement, subverting the traditional glory and machismo of the genre.

The film boasts a strong cast including Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, and Zoe Kazan. It features gorgeous cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt and was nominated for multiple awards.

With the tragic events currently taking place in Ukraine, we wanted to take a look at this important piece of Ukrainian/soviet era cinema, and highlight one of the region’s most well-regarded directors.

Sergei Parajanov was a fascinating figure who was censored and eventually imprisoned by the authorities for his art. Shadows, his most famous film, is an homage to Ukrainian traditions and an experimental departure from soviet realism.

The movie was lauded by the international film community for its boundary-pushing aesthetics and lively cinematography. It is also one of the few films of the period that uses the Ukrainian language, as well as traditional dress and folk music. The story is a fairly basic romance, but the tone is surreal and the imagery is lavish and compelling.