While the “Twilight” saga made Kristen Stewart a global star, this Friday’s “The Chronology of Water” reveals her ambitions as an artist.

“Water,” Stewart’s writing-directing debut, won near universal praise at last year’s Cannes Film Festival premiere.

Stewart offers a personal vision in adapting Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of how she and her sister were verbally, physically and sexually abused by their father. Their alcoholic mother never intervened.
Critics responded enthusiastically to Stewart’s impressionistic storytelling and casting Imogen Poots as Yuknavitch.

Stewart, in a joint virtual press conference with Poots, said reading the memoir made her realize she wanted to, “Make something that reframes the things that hurt us.

“My favorite part of acting” she continued, “is working with directors who have something to say and share space with you. So I was obsessed with and am totally reverential of just the process and the different ways you can make a movie. And this seemed the perfect piece to do that.”

“For me when this came along,” Poots, 36, said, “it was so unique, along with the subject matter, it was a no-brainer. It was just the beginning of a beautiful collaboration.

“Because vulnerabilities and inconsistencies are what actors want. You are operating for a place of, How do you get further? Deeper?

“She challenged us to go further — and when someone believes in you that much, the entire set responds.”

“I wanted this to feel,” Stewart, 35, said, “that it stands out of time. I wanted it to feel like something you found in a family attic that somehow came together just at the end.

“You look back at this wild ride (of filmmaking) I was in. It was unmooring and confusing and allowed mysticism to step in.

“I wanted to make a movie about everyone — not just Lydia. I think this is a movie about all of us. It’s a call to arms. The female experience felt released.”

As to creating such an extremely personal take, “I had a blast,” Stewart said. “It was such a different type of work. I felt the technical limitations of structure and process and time — and being the person who was to control that.

“There was the responsibility of protecting the chaos but still feel safe to jump into the pool, without me controlling everything.

“There’s image creation and allowing life to step in.  With new questions, new desires and be able to create a stage to explore my ideas and their ideas.

“Because directing and acting, they really are partners. I helped (Poots) act this movie every day. It was her body but our (expletive) souls were combined.”