Thirteen

Catherine Hardwicke had been a production designer until then, and this was her first film as director. She wrote it with Nikki Reed in 6 days, out of Reed’s own early teens. Reed later said she regretted drawing her father as a vacant, careless figure. Studios stayed away. As Hardwicke tells it, a cast of women, an R rating and a teenage subject fitted no studio’s boxes. She raised the money from independent investors herself, and says she was paid 3 dollars for the whole job. Michelle Trachtenberg was cast as Tracy first and withdrew over a TV commitment. Evan Rachel Wood and Reed were both 14 during the shoot. Shot on Super 16 mm in 24 days, the film lets colour track the friendship: slightly drained before Evie, pushed up once it takes, then pulled back down towards the end. Its wins include the Sundance directing award, a Silver Leopard at Locarno shared with another film, and an Independent Spirit award for Reed. Holly Hunter was nominated for the Academy Award and shared Locarno’s best actress prize with 2 others. A good fit if you want the colour of the image doing the same work as the plot. Not for anyone who wants the self harm and the drug use shot from a distance; Hardwicke moves in on both.