Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

It’s present-day Portland Oregon. Lizzie is an instructor at the College of Arts and Crafts and is preparing her upcoming solo show at a local gallery. She is creating a series of small, clay, glazed sculptures of women in motion. But she also has to deal with the vagaries of daily life: a dysfunctional family, a pigeon wounded by her aggressive cat, a broken water heater, and most of all Jo. Jo is her friend, neighbour, fellow-artist, and absentee landlady. Lizzie holds a long-standing grudge against Jo’s relative success and is carrying on a passive aggressive war against her frenemy. But time is running out. Will she finish her art in time, keep her family alive, and finally take a hot shower? And most important, is anyone showing up for her opening?

Showing Up is a new dramatic comedy that takes an inside look at Portland’s art scene. It’s a subtly satirical examination of real life. Showing Up is the latest work  of filmmaker Kelly Reichardt, known for her rethinking of traditional genres, from westerns to thrillers to dramas, from Meeks Cutoff to Night Moves to Certain Women.

I spoke with Kelly Reichardt in person at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, where Showing Up is now playing.