The integral retrospective held at CINEMATEK between March and July 2024 featured a lively set of guests. Drawing from the connections Akerman cultivated in Brussels, this retrospective strived to frame her cinematic oeuvre drawing the contours of her environment. As such, the programme was complemented by a Carte Blanche of her reference films, and a series of conferences and talks with some of Akerman’s closest collaborators. Guests such as editor Claire Atherton, cinematographers Caroline Champetier and Sabine Lancelin or critic Laura Mulvey were invited to offer their insights and testimonies to contextualise the films.
Missed the Programme? Here’s Your Chance to Catch Up!
For those who were not able to attend, here is the opportunity for you to review the 5 months long programme. Dive into the insightful talks that took place over the past months by listening to the recordings provided below. Additionally, explore our programmes and discover our key insights and takeaways through the documents linked at the bottom.
ON EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA AND JEANNE DIELMAN (EN)
Chantal Akerman’s early films (La Chambre, Hotel Monterey) were influenced by the experimental American cinema of Jonas and Adolfas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Yvonne Rainer, and Michael Snow’s Wavelength. Patricia Canino met Chantal Akerman and Delphine Seyrig during the last edition of EXPRMNT, where she was offered the job of editing Jeanne Dielman. Patricia Canino discusses Akerman’s inspiration drawn from experimental cinema and her close collaboration with Akerman in crafting the masterpiece Jeanne Dielman.
THIS IS / THIS IS NOT A QUEER FEMINIST FILM (EN)
A discussion reflecting on Je tu il elle, Chantal Akerman’s most explicitly queer film, and the complicated relationship that Akerman maintained – and by extension that the managers of her estate maintain today – with feminist and LGBTQ+ political categories.
THE SOUND OF CHANTAL AKERMAN (EN)
A conference about sound, noise and ‘slow sound’ in the work of Chantal Akerman, with a focus on the hearing structures in her films. Followed by a conversation between Stoffel Debuysere (curator of cinema and audiovisual arts, researcher at KASK School of Arts) and Paul Hegarty (professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Nottingham, author of Noise/Music and Annihiliating Noise).
ON AKERMAN’S TOUTE UNE NUIT AND FILMING IN BRUSSELS (EN)
Caroline Champetier has served as director of photography for over 120 films, collaborating with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Leos Carax, Anne Fontaine and Margarete von Trotta. Her inaugural feature film in 1982 was Chantal Akerman’s Toute une nuit, a film where the city of Brussels plays a crucial role. Champetier discusses her collaboration with Akerman, particularly after Jeanne Dielman, her experiences working with women in key functions of film production, and the process of capturing the essence of Brussels in a “mood” film.
LAURA MULVEY PRESENTS LA PARESSE AND GOLDEN EIGHTIES (EN)
Laura Mulvey introduces Akerman’s films of her choice, Golden Eighties and La Paresse.
“The Golden Eighties is a riotous musical. I love the way that Chantal Akerman weaves her avant-garde aesthetic of repetition, seriality, and formal pattern into the seriality of the chorus line, the repeated motifs of song and dance, all framed by the overarching patterns of the mise-en-scene. The film reflects the economic hardship of the 1980s, just as Hollywood musicals had in the 1930s, while the interplay between chance and everyday romance harks back to Jacques Demy.” (L.M.)
À PROPOS DE D’EST (FR)
D’Est est un film essentiel dans le parcours de Chantal Akerman. Il a donné lieu à la création de sa première installation, D’Est au bord de la fiction. Au cours de cet échange Claire Atherton, proche collaboratrice de Chantal Akerman pendant plus de 30 ans, revient sur sa pratique de montage avec Chantal Akerman ainsi que sur leur processus commun de création des installations.
D’EST – UNE CONVERSATION AVEC PIERRE MERTENS (FR)
Rencontre avec Pierre Mertens, ingénieur du son et collaborateur régulier de Chantal Akerman.
D’Est retrace un voyage menant de la fin de l’été au plus profond de l’hiver, de l’Allemagne de l’Est à Moscou, un voyage qu’Akerman a voulu faire « tant qu’il est encore temps », en restituant ses impressions à la manière documentaire, au bord de la fiction, en filmant « tout ce qui la touche ». La cinéaste passe et accroche des sons et des images au fil d’un parcours subjectif de la Russie.
LA RESTAURATION DE DEMAIN ON DÉMÉNAGE (FR)
Sabine Lancelin (directrice de la photographie et collaboratrice de Chantal Akerman) revient sur le tournage de Demain on déménage, et s’entretient avec Christophe Tondeur (restaurateur à CINEMATEK) à propos de leur collaboration sur la récente restauration 4K du film, terminée en mai 2024.
