Help restore Kelly Reichardt’s debut film ‘River of Grass’

Kelly Reichardt’s first film River of Grass was released at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994 and nominated for a Grand Jury Prize, followed by several Independent Spirit Awards later that year. Reichardt would go on to make films like Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff and the most recent Night Moves, but her original film remained commercially unavailable and in poor original condition.

Shot on 16mm and in 4×3 aspect ratio befitting Reichardt’s atmospheric yet slow burning style, the film tells the story of two low life criminals on the road and on the run, believing to have murdered a man while playing around with a gun.

Because time has not been kind to the film, Kickstarter is starting an initiative to restore worthy films. They’ve partnered with Oscilloscope Films to raise $20,000 to restore the film in hi-def 2K, and you can be a part of helping the effort.

Rewards for donating include digital or DVD copies of the finished and restored River of Grass, along with posters and copies of Reichardt’s other films and an invitation to tour Oscilloscope recording studio.