Curated by Prof. Dr. Steven Jacobs (University Antwerp and University Ghent) and Geert Goiris (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp).
This film programme is conceived as an ode to Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman and presents her early short film ‘La Chambre’ (1972) and the documentary ‘News from Home’ (1977).
Chantal Akerman (1950, Brussels – 2015, Paris) was one of the most influential filmmakers of her generation, and except for her monumental reputation in the field of feminist film (criticism) has also played a crucial role in the gradual rapprochement between "conventional" cinema and the moving image art installation lean.
The films will be introduced by professor film history Steven Jacobs (in Dutch).
>> CINEMACADEMY is an initiative by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in collaboration with the University of Antwerp and De Cinema
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MORE ABOUT THE FILMS
‘La Chambre’, Chantal Akerman, 1972 (11’)
A long and slow panoramic shot describes continuously the space in a room. Chantal Akerman sits on a bed, at first motionless and then, when the camera captures her again, eating an apple. This film is a mysterious self-portrait of the filmmaker at her favourite spot as well as a sort of cinematic still-life, repetitively describing elements in a space.
‘News from Home’, Chantal Akerman, 1977 (85’)
‘News from Home’ is a 1977 avant-garde documentary film directed by Chantal Akerman. The film consists of long takes of locations in New York City, set to Akerman's voice-over as she reads letters her mother sent her between 1971 and 1973, when the director lived in the city.