Chantal Akerman

Directing

Chantal Akerman

Born June 6, 1950 · Brussels, Belgium

Died October 5, 2015 · aged 65

Chantal Anne Akerman (June 6, 1950 – October 5, 2015) was a Belgian film director, artist and professor of film at the City College of New York. Her best-known film is Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). Despite being categorised as such by others, Akerman frequently distanced herself from the feminist label, explaining, "when people say there is a feminist film language, …

Known For

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 BruxellesJeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles · 1976
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
7.41976
MovieDrama
A lonely young widow lives with her son following an immutable order: while the boy is in school, she cares for their apartment, does chores, and receives clients in the afternoon.
Mallet-Stevens StreetMallet-Stevens Street · 1986
Mallet-Stevens Street
7.61986
MovieDrama
Commissioned for the centenary of the famous French architect and designer Robert Mallet-Stevens and shot on the street that bears his name in Paris' 16th arrondissement, Rue Mallet-Stevens depicts a mysterious, nocturnal scene of romance (featuring Akerman and her partner, the cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton) unfolding before and inside one of the street's modernist constructions.
Morceaux de CannesMorceaux de Cannes · 2021
Morceaux de Cannes
2.02021
MovieDocumentary
We thought we'd seen, read, and heard everything there was to see about the Cannes Film Festival, from the glitz and gossip to the scandals and censorship. And yet, Emmanuel Barnault's "Morceaux de Cannes" (Pieces of Cannes), by this leading expert on Italian and French cinema, convinces us otherwise. The third largest event in the world (after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup) reveals its secrets only sparingly, as this film attests. The result of passionate research in the INA archives, these 52 minutes, without interviews or voice-over narration, string together rare and sometimes previously unseen footage. Taken together, they tell a surprising, original, and heartwarming story of the Festival. On the beach, on a street corner, in a restaurant, or in the privacy of a hotel room, these forgotten archives summon the greatest filmmakers, actors, and actresses of the last seventy years, from Jean Cocteau to David Lynch, for an anthology of the Festival's history.
Je Tu Il ElleJe Tu Il Elle · 1974
Je Tu Il Elle
6.61974
MovieDramaRomance
A woman suffers a subdued psychological breakdown in the wake of a devastating breakup.
The Meetings of AnnaThe Meetings of Anna · 1978
The Meetings of Anna
7.01978
MovieDrama
Detached filmmaker Anna Silver arrives in Germany to show her latest film; over the course of some days, she encounters a variety of new and old faces, some of whom make personal revelations to her to little affect.
The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married WomanThe Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman · 1971
The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman
6.61971
MovieDocumentary
In this unfinished work, a young mother, her little girl, as well as a friend of the mother's, spend the summer in a villa. The mother shares her problems – womanhood, motherhood, being married - with her friend, dresses up with the little girl, observes her body, and does a series of household tasks.
A Couch in New YorkA Couch in New York · 1996
A Couch in New York
5.91996
MovieRomanceComedy
A burnt-out New York psychoanalyst exchanges apartments with a Parisian woman. When his patients arrive, they talk to her and then pay. He returns early and becomes a patient as well.
The CaptiveThe Captive · 2000
The Captive
5.72000
MovieDramaRomance
Ariane lives with Simon in his large Paris flat. Simon is obsessed with her: he wants to know everything about her, secretly follows her when she goes out, asks questions all the time, even in the most intimate moments. Ariane seems to take it all in stride, but Simon realises that she's hiding something.

Filmography

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Morceaux de CannesMorceaux de Cannes · 2021
Morceaux de Cannes
2.02021
MovieDocumentary
We thought we'd seen, read, and heard everything there was to see about the Cannes Film Festival, from the glitz and gossip to the scandals and censorship. And yet, Emmanuel Barnault's "Morceaux de Cannes" (Pieces of Cannes), by this leading expert on Italian and French cinema, convinces us otherwise. The third largest event in the world (after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup) reveals its secrets only sparingly, as this film attests. The result of passionate research in the INA archives, these 52 minutes, without interviews or voice-over narration, string together rare and sometimes previously unseen footage. Taken together, they tell a surprising, original, and heartwarming story of the Festival. On the beach, on a street corner, in a restaurant, or in the privacy of a hotel room, these forgotten archives summon the greatest filmmakers, actors, and actresses of the last seventy years, from Jean Cocteau to David Lynch, for an anthology of the Festival's history.
The Man with the SuitcaseThe Man with the Suitcase · 1983
The Man with the Suitcase
6.31983
MovieTV MovieComedy
A sensitivity to sounds coming from the activities of an unwelcome guest in the close quarters of an apartment is only one important component in this atmospheric, avant-garde drollery by Chantal Akerman. When the apartment owner comes home, her guest is settled in and at first, the slightly reclusive host decides simply to eat her breakfast in her room instead of having to face morning conversation with her guest. Sounds of the toilet flushing, the bath water running and splashing, footsteps pacing, and furniture moving invade the hostess' refuge in her bedroom like the frontrunners of an all-out offensive. She locks herself up for 28 days, life's detritus accumulating around her, just so she does not have to go out to face the nemesis that lurks beyond her door.

Director