Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman (Documentary)
This auto-portrait made for French TV offers a rare first-person insight into the director’s life and artistic process.
When approached by co-producers Janine Bazin and André S. Labarthe to make an episode for their long-running French TV documentary series Cinéastes de notre temps, Chantal Akerman found that all her suggestions for directors to profile had already been taken. So, instead, she turned the lens on herself, choosing to address the camera in a casual setting at home – seated in a fold-up chair, her dog padding around nearby – and read a letter about her work, supported by clips drawn from a vast spectrum of her filmography.
Rarely shown in cinemas outside of large career retrospectives, this self-portrait had its big-screen premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and remains one of the most interesting episodes of Cinéastes de notre temps, which has been described as “the holy grail of cinephile TV series”. At the time of production in 1996, the prodigious Akerman had already made some of her most significant features and shorts; but rather than self-aggrandise, she speaks plainly about herself and her intentions, ending with a beautifully blunt summary: "My name is Chantal Akerman; I was born in Brussels – that's true. That’s true."
“Functioning as both a primer for the uninitiated and a possible skeleton key for the devoted auteurist, Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman gives rare access to its maker’s headspace.” – Harvard Film Archive
2K Digitisation.
This film screens with Dis-moi.