“Process, Not Results” | Nicole Riegel, Dandelion
KiKi Layne and Thomas Doherty in Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.
In Nicole Riegel’s Dandelion, a struggling Cincinnati singer-songwriter (KiKi Layne, If Beale Street Could Talk) in a downward spiral takes a last-ditch-effort gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota, where she meets Casey, a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago.
As Dandelion joins Casey’s nomadic group of struggling musicians, the kindred spirits make music together and strike up a whirlwind romance. The experience moves Dandelion from a narrow view of success to a deeper appreciation of her artistic journey, and the discovery of a voice that is authentically her own.
Screening Monday, May 6, at 7:00 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre (get tickets here), as part of this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival, with writer/director Nicole Riegel (Holler) and actress KiKi Layne in attendance for a post-film Q&A, the film is a visually striking and emotionally grounded exploration of artistic struggle, personal progress, and the endurance of the creative spirit.
Ahead of Dandelion screening at the Chicago Critics Film Festival, Nicole Riegel graciously took the time to answer this year’s CCFF filmmaker questionnaire. Below, her individual responses.
Courtesy of Nicole Riegel.
How did you first become interested in filmmaking? What was your path toward directing your first film?
My grandmother showed me her favorite film, Elia Kazan's Splendor In The Grass, when I was a kid. Although I was too young to understand it, that film made me fall in love with cinema and is my favorite film of all time. From there, my path has been a straight hustle. I didn’t have access to filmmaking tools until undergraduate study, but I was rejected from the film production program that I applied to in Ohio. I pivoted to studying History and Film Criticism while taking photography courses where I could access a dark room 24 hours a day, to develop my own 35mm photographs and explore visual language.
Then, I was accepted to film school at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. I learned a great deal about craft and honed my voice there. I was making short films during this time too, and getting rejected from all the festivals for years. Then, I wrote Holler, and it was also rejected for years. After five years of the film coming together and falling apart, lowering the budget as much as I could, I randomly Googled “does anyone in America give money to women to direct movies?" as a joke. A brand-new fund, created specially for that purpose, popped up. A mutual acquaintance helped arrange a meeting. I came out of that meeting with a fully financed film, and I was that company’s first or second film.
KiKi Layne in Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.
What inspired you to make the film you're bringing to the festival?
Dandelion is about a brief but depressing chapter of my life, told through the lens of a musician. While Dandelion was easier to get made than Holler, there was not a lot of opportunity or trust in me as a filmmaker following the critical acclaim of Holler. I didn't expect a franchise to fall in my lap, but I expected more resources to come my way. When that didn't happen and I looked to a lot of my peers and saw them, seemingly, soaring onto bigger things, it was painful. I felt like an invisible filmmaker.
Searching and longing for those rewards only brought me more misery, and I turned to writing songs to cope. I love how spontaneously you can write a song with a pen, paper, and guitar, and then it's finished, whereas even the most bare-bones filmmaking requires a lot more resources before you see it finished. Those lyrics turned into Dandelion, particularly “The Ghost of Cincinnati,” which was co-written with Aaron Dessner and performed by him as well. Go listen to that song... It’s pretty dark. I have no musical ambitions, but music made me fall back in love with the process of making films. I learned to pour my emotions and value into process, not results. That's what Dandelion learns too, in the end.
Tell us about a film that you consider a guiding influence (whether it has informed your overarching vision as a filmmaker, directly informed the title you're bringing to the festival, or both).
It's a tie between Hiroshima Mon Amour by Alain Resnais and I Am Love by Luca Guadagnino. I pulled from both, but let's go with Hiroshima, since there are film-still comparisons you could do between that film and Dandelion. Both Hiroshima and Dandelion are films that explore two brief and intense affairs, and both are filled with longing and searching. Both explore time but in different ways. Hiroshima does so with more political messaging and a non-linear screenplay. I love Resnais' visual language in that film and the sensual close-ups, especially of skin and body parts. I love his use of dissolves to convey time. The lovers visually melt into one another, and their love can only exist in that one time and place. Hiroshima’s editing style is not your typical American wide establishing shot followed by close coverage. Hiroshima immerses you in extreme close-ups and then orients you with a wide. Every frame of Hiroshima feels so lovingly made.
KiKi Layne in Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.
Tell us about a location that's held significance to the film you're bringing to the festival: a setting where filming took place, a geographic area that provided a source of inspiration, or another type of space that comes to mind for you in thinking about the film. What made this place so special?
The fire tower at Custer National Park, in South Dakota. We performed live music at sunset in a gorgeous national park. That will always be Dandelion and Casey's spot in my mind.
KiKi Layne and Thomas Doherty in Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.
The theatrical experience brings us together to celebrate artistic experience and expand our horizons as human beings. Tell us about a memorable theatrical experience from your life.
The first movie that I ever saw in a movie theatre was Pet Semetery by Mary Lambert, when I was four years old. It terrified me so badly that I hid underneath my seat until it was over. I was waaay too young for that movie, but it made me feel something. I love the original Pet Semetery, and it still scares me.