Focus on Greta Gerwig

Overview

Lady Bird earned her two Academy Award nominations, including a rare nod for Best Director for a female filmmaker. Little Women added a third stint among the Oscars contenders to her resume. Barbie is painting cinema pink even before it officially releases. Yes, Greta Gerwig has been doing glorious things behind the camera over the past few years — since she started helming solo, that is, after co-directing Nights and Weekends in 2008 during her time as a mumblecore mainstay.

There's only been one drawback of Gerwig's recent focus on directing over acting: her presence on-screen is greatly missed. When she popped up in 2022's White Noise, it was her first performing credit since 2018's Isle of Dogs — and her first time actually appearing in front of the lens since an uncredited Saturday Night Live stint in 2017, and both 20th Century Women and Jackie the year prior.

Act, direct, write — as she did on both Frances Ha and Mistress America, too, as well as starring in them: yes, Gerwig can do it all. And if all this singing of her praises has you wanting to watch her work in all three guises, you're in luck thanks to ACMI's Focus on Greta Gerwig program.

From Thursday, July 6–Sunday, July 23, timed in the lead up to Barbie's fantastic plastic explosion, the Federation Square cinema haven is paying tribute to the Hannah Takes the Stairs, Baghead and Damsels in Distress star by playing a heap of her films.

Dates and times vary per movie, but the full lineup includes most of the titles mentioned above. Whether or not you've ever bought a plane ticket to Paris that you can't afford on a credit card that you shouldn't have Frances Ha-style, this is indeed modern love.