Kristen Stewart is no stranger to book adaptations. Nearly two decades after starring as Bella Swan in the cultural phenomenon “The Twilight Saga,” she is stepping behind the camera, making her directorial debut with the adaptation of the cult-favorite memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, “The Chronology of Water.”
Following a screening at Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theater, Stewart sat down for an intimate conversation with the film’s production designer, Jen Dunlap, reflecting on the filmmaking process, the role of instinct in shaping a story, and the ways sound can drive narrative.
Like its source material, the film is a raw, fragmented portrait of Yunavitch (played by Imogen Poots), an aspiring Olympic diver unmoored and burdened by trauma caused by years of sexual abuse. Dunlap described her first reaction to Stewart’s script as “visceral.” “When I read it, I saw it as a moving painting…with like tons of symbolism…that are just gonna cut you in the gut, like the blood on the tile,” she explained, likening Stewart’s approach to that of a painter.
Dunlap’s understanding of Stewart’s vision breathed new life into a film that, as Stewart put it, “was being kind of like killed by production, by department heads that I had thought that I could trust for a long time.”
Stewart continued, “And you know, when you have a friend who like suddenly realizes who you are in like a given period, and if they didn’t see you in that moment, you might die. Jen, you came and met me and built worlds in and around Lidia that I had just dreamt of for like eight years.”
That world was brought to life across the globe in Latvia, with production spanning 55 locations in just 33 shoot days. Dunlap recalled the challenge of authentically recreating time periods ranging from 1963 to 2001 across notable locations in Yunavitch’s life, including Bellingham, Washington, Portland and Eugene, Oregon, Austin and Lubbock, Texas, Gainesville, Florida, and New York City, while also navigating the difficulty of finding authentic American lighting in Latvia.
Ultimately, Dunlap relished the urgency of the process and how closely it mirrored Yunavitch’s experience: “and we had to create all of that in a whirlwind and make it feel like Lidia’s life, and I think that was so exciting to do this in a flash.”
That same sense of momentum carried through to the film’s editing, reinforcing the fractured, immediate nature of Yunavitch’s memories. In the first act, scenes shot entirely on 16mm film, are flitting close-ups of fragmented memories from her childhood.
“A good, like a very good 68% of the script is written in the fractured, kind of like splitting instinctively sense memory sort of way,” Stewart explained, “like the predominant flashes that evoke the first few times that this woman, like bleeds, and then the amount of times that that continues happening.”
For Stewart, this striking, quick-moving imagery was what originally drew her to adapting the book for film. She tried to include every moment she could, but soon realized some scenes did not translate onscreen and that adhering too strictly to the memoir did the story a disservice. Instead, she wrote a malleable script and encouraged her cast and crew to create with instinct.
In the conversation, Stewart recalled, “there were things that happened, like Jim Belushi was like, um, ‘f*ck a metaphor’…but the writing was set up to find those moments.”
She continued to “find those moments” in the editing process alongside the film’s composer, Paris Hurley, using stereo-sound, like the ripping of lace, to deepen the emotional experience. “I think that’s what makes this movie complete and amazing, and it’s well-rounded, and it’s like an experience that you have with your whole body. I guess the smell and sound connect to the most, the trigger memories, whereas like, if you see something, it’s so much more.”
Whether through the script, visuals, or sound, Stewart knew she wanted to create a story that knew exactly what it was. “I’m so fucking sick of watching people seem like there’s something. Just do it and then let other people decipher how you did it and allow them to fucking hate it or love it or reimagine it, but seeming sucks and being feels really good,” she declared.
The film stands as a testament to Stewart’s ability to not only translate a story to the screen, making all 2 hours and 8 minutes not just something to watch but something to experience. For an actress who has built her career inhabiting other people’s lives, Stewart does not just seem like a director; she is one, with every sense of her being.
Stewart’s directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” is now playing in select theaters.
Amelia Cordischi, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Juice Box Press, is an accomplished digital marketing professional with over a decade of experience in media and communications. Her work has been featured in notable publications, including The Boston Globe. A communications graduate of Simmons University in Boston, Amelia served as manager of Simmons College Radio (“The Shark”), where she also launched and co-hosted her radio show, The Find.
In addition to her editorial work, Amelia is an established freelance photographer, with bylines in Blended Magazine and CelebMix, capturing artists and cultural moments across the music and media landscape. Her career began at WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, the ABC affiliate in Boston, where she gained firsthand experience in broadcast journalism and storytelling.
When she’s not taking photos from the photo pit, interviewing emerging artists, or crafting the next Juice Box Press feature, Amelia can be found thrifting and exploring the world of sustainable fashion.