Much like Jane, the never-named hero of her film “The Assistant,” writer-director Kitty Green began her career in media at a production company. She wanted to be in the film business, where starting off at the bottom was the typical first step to where she now finds herself after years of hard work.

Green, who is Australian, screened “The Assistant” at Sundance, and sat down with me in

Elle (Lily Tomlin) is an academic/erstwhile poet with an acerbic tongue and a combative attitude. When Elle’s granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) arrives at her doorstep with an unwanted pregnancy and little money, they embark on a journey that involves Elle ringing up old acquaintances to collect enough money for an abortion. What ensues is a day of episodic reunions, some painful, some joyful, and most raucous and downright funny.