Chantal Akerman mines her own life for material with which to weave her fine cloth. Part of the omnibus film Seven Women, Seven Sins.
Chantal Akerman (1950–2015) was Belgian filmmaker who explored the mundane details of ordinary life with a clear eye and a strong feminist sensibility. She studied at a film school in Brussels, but she dropped out and briefly lived in New York City. She burst onto the international scene with her avant-garde classic Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975).
Akerman directed more than 40 documentary and feature films, including Saute ma ville (1968), Hôtel Monterey (1972), Je, Tu, Il, Elle (1974). Her final work, No Home Movie (2015), consisted of a documented conversation with her mother recorded shortly before the latter’s death in 2014. Akerman had long struggled with depression, and it was reported that she committed suicide.
Blow up My Town (1968), Hotel Monterey (1972), I, You, He, She (1974), Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), News from Home (1977), Toute une nuit (1982), Golden Eighties (1986), A Couch in New York (1996), No Home Movie (2015)