Stewart’s feature directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” received six minutes of applause at its premiere.

Her directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” has earned good notices, but after fighting to get it made, the filmmaker wouldn’t mind a battle with reviewers.

Stewart’s first steps as a director came eight years ago with the short “Come Swim,” which she also premiered in Cannes, in 2017. The festival, she says, generates the kind of questions she likes around movies. It was around then that Stewart began adapting Yuknavitch's memoir.