East with Sonia Wieder-Atherton

East with Sonia Wieder-Atherton

2009 · 84 min · ★ 7.0 · Documentary, Music, TV Movie

Presented in 2 parts, this 83 minute piece documents Wieder-Atherton's idea to do a set of pieces from across central and eastern Europe, including Russia. Some weren't originally written for cello, but she had them transcribed. Some were songs for voices, which goes with Wieder-Atherton saying in an earlier film she made with Chantal Akerman that she aspires to play the cello in a way that it carries the specificity of emotion of the human voice. She explains at the beginning of both parts how she feels each country in the region has it's own personality expressed in its music, coming from its individual history and culture, but that each land in the area is also 'impregnated' as she puts it, by the others, so there are certain elements that run throughout.

Directed by Chantal Akerman

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Sonia Wieder-Atherton Self
Christophe Mangou Self - Chef d'orchestre

Make it a double feature

3h 32m together

East with Sonia Wieder-Atherton

Almayer's Folly

Both from Chantal Akerman.

More from Chantal AkermanSee all →

Mallet-Stevens Street

Mallet-Stevens Street · 1986

Mallet-Stevens Street

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.

Franz Schubert's Last Three Piano Sonatas

Franz Schubert's Last Three Piano Sonatas · 1989

Franz Schubert's Last Three Piano Sonatas

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A portrait of pianist Alfred Brendel performing and analysing Franz Schubert's final three sonatas.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles · 1976

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

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.

Family Business

Family Business · 1984

Family Business

MovieComedyDrama

Chantal Akerman was commissioned by Visions to make this short film for £20,000. It was first shown on 21 November 1984, on Channel 4. Akerman herself plays the role of a director visiting Hollywood to find financing from an uncle she hardly knows. Very little goes to plan… Also stars Aurore Clement and Colleen Camp.

Letters Home

Letters Home · 1986

MovieTV MovieDrama

A filmed adaptation of Rose Leiman Goldemberg’s play, based on Sylvia Plath’s intense correspondence with her mother Aurelia, from the time the poet was in university until her suicide. Delphine Seyrig and her niece Coralie Seyrig recite Sylvia and Aurelia’s letters to the audience directly.

Moving In

Moving In · 1993

"A man stands amid unpacked boxes in his new home, delivering an extended monologue on indecision and dislocation. This rarely seen, overlooked gem created by Akerman for television explores the quotidian crises and profound feelings of alienation that run through her work." - BAM

The Meetings of Anna

The Meetings of Anna · 1978

The Meetings of Anna

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.

Hôtel des Acacias

Hôtel des Acacias · 1982

Hôtel des Acacias

MovieRomanceComedy

Several young men and women arrive one after the other at Hôtel des Acacias, full of hope, desire and vitality. In the bustle of this hotel, everyone is looking for love. Hôtel des Acacias was an exercise guided in 1982 by Chantal Akerman at Belgium’s INSAS audio-visual college.

Almayer's Folly

Almayer's Folly · 2012

Almayer's Folly

In 1940s Malaysia, European merchant Kaspar Almayer is obsessed with finding a treasure to secure his daughter's future. His dreams fall victim to the pressure of his own greed, which becomes a torment. Compounding this is the oppressive English domination dominating the country – and that which brings ruin to the remote village where he lives.

The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman

The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman · 1971

The Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman

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.

Je Tu Il Elle

Je Tu Il Elle · 1974

MovieDramaRomance

A woman suffers a subdued psychological breakdown in the wake of a devastating breakup.

Toute une nuit

Toute une nuit · 1982

MovieDramaRomance

Following over two dozen different individuals in the almost wordless atmosphere of a dark night in a Brussels town, acceptance and rejection in the realm of romance is examined.

Golden Eighties

Golden Eighties · 1986

Golden Eighties

MovieMusicComedy

In a lively shopping center, proprietors and customers are bustling, including three women vying for a man's heart with song and dance.

South

MovieDocumentary

Chantal Akerman investigates the American Deep South through the story of a lynching and grisly murder of an African-American man that took place in Texas in 1998.

Portrait of a Lazy Woman

Portrait of a Lazy Woman · 1986

Portrait of a Lazy Woman

MovieComedyDocumentary

Belgian director Chantal Akerman struggles to overcome her laziness in the name of making a film about the subject.

The Man with the Suitcase

The Man with the Suitcase · 1983

The Man with the Suitcase

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.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter