The Chronology of Water
Opens January 30, 2026
January 30, 2026 | 7:00pm | SIFF Film Center
February 1, 2026 | 7:00pm | SIFF Film Center
Presented by Grand Illusion Cinema
Based on the beloved memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, Kristen Stewart's feature-length directorial debut is a raw and unflinching portrait of survival, sexuality, and self-invention. Shot on 16mm, the film traces Lidia’s life from her earliest memories in the Pacific Northwest, as a promising swimmer, through fractured relationships, near-motherhood, addiction, and encounters with artistic heroes.
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
Told as a fluid memory wash, the story transforms trauma into art, embodying Yuknavitch’s defiant voice that made her work a modern cult classic. It is not only a chronicle of a woman becoming a writer, but a visceral journey through the wreckage and resilience of a life lived against the grain.
“Kristen Stewart reveals a deft directorial hand and a distinct, languid, echoing style in her vividly made, emotionally visceral exploration of the life and times of American novelist Lidia Yuknavitch.”—Christina Newland, Time Out
- Director: Kristen Stewart
- Principal Cast: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Charlie Carrick, Tom Sturridge, Susannah Flood
- Year: 2025
- Running Time: 127 min.