THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER Special Screenings

Kristen Stewart is an Academy Award®-nominated actress who has portrayed a challenging assortment of characters. Adapting Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of the same name, shards of an abusive childhood, like memories sharp enough to draw blood, pierce the screen in jumbled, rapid succession, as Lidia (a revelatory Imogen Poots) attempts to gather the pain and reshape it into the story of her life. Seeking escape first in competitive swimming, then in drugs, sex and toxic relationships, Lidia discovers the written word as a channel for healing. Jim Belushi plays a shamanic Ken Kesey who takes Lidia under his wing during a writing seminar at the University of Oregon. From this place, she puts language to the hurt. Stewart’s bold and inventive adaptation floods the screen with a deluge of images, often fragmented and potently juxtaposed, persuasively visualizing the poetic stream-of-consciousness of Lidia’s writings and memories. As the film’s protagonist, Poots anchors this cinematic whirlwind with the solidity of her performance — feral, raw and tender. This debut announces Stewart as a visionary behind the camera and Poots as one of the most daring and captivating performers of her generation. –Travis Weedon