Sartaj Singh
Kelly Reichardt is gearing up to craft her next film! The Cinemaholic can confirm that the filmmaker will helm ‘The Mastermind’ next. The principal photography of the project will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio, between October 14 and November 22, 2024. Further details regarding the cast, crew, and plot are currently under wraps.
A paragon of independent cinema, Reichardt is known for her thought-provoking movies that present offbeat narratives providing an empathetic gaze toward those on the periphery of society. The filmmaker has written all the feature films she has directed, which is likely the case with ‘The Mastermind.’ The director entered the film industry by working in the art department of films like ‘Longtime Companion,’ ‘Poison,’ and ‘Jersey Girl.’ She made her directorial debut with ‘River of Grass,’ a drama about a woman in a loveless marriage and a homeless man going on the run after accidentally committing a crime.
Reichardt gained further acclaim with her subsequent films ‘Old Joy,’ which follows old friends reuniting for a camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, and ‘Wendy and Lucy,’ a tragic drama that centers on a woman who faces a series of dire economic scenarios during what she believed was going to be a lucrative summer. Her subsequent films include ‘Meek’s Cutoff,’ ‘Certain Women,’ and ‘Night Moves,’ starring Jesse Eisenberg. Reichardt garnered immense acclaim for helming ‘First Cow,’ an A24 Western about a cook following fur trappers into the wilderness of Oregon and building a partnership with a Chinese immigrant to start a business and make their fortunes.
‘First Cow’ is arguably the perfect film to understand Reichardt’s mastery and attention to detail. “How some small decisions will torture you for days, keep you awake, consume you, and you know in the end that it’s likely no one else is ever going to notice,” said the director in an interview. “I spent a good three months obsessing over the cricket sounds in ‘First Cow,’ totally fearful that their chirping rhythm was going to drive the audience insane, so I went back into the sound mix and carefully placed each chirp. Now that I’m not under the spell of that film, I find it hard to believe anyone is following the crickets. But you know, it’s real at the time you’re in it.”
Reichardt most recently changed up her style for ‘Showing Up,’ a comedy that follows a skilled sculptor as she prepares for an important show but encounters several mishaps along the way. “The times were so dark when we were conceiving of ‘Showing Up,’” revealed the director in the aforementioned interview, likely referring to the COVID-19 Pandemic. “We were, even for ourselves, looking for a little relief. We wanted to embrace artmaking and laugh at it all at the same time.” The filmmaker has also sought to make a crime drama based on her father’s experiences as a police detective. One can only speculate if ‘The Mastermind’ will have such elements.
Most of Reichardt’s films are shot in Oregon, and a Cincinnati backdrop may present a unique atmosphere for her storytelling. When ‘The Mastermind’ enters production in the city, it will join notable movies shot in the region, including ‘The Bikeriders,’ ‘Dark Waters,’ ‘Rain Man,’ and ‘Carol.’
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