Chantal Akerman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chantal Akerman
Akerman in 2012
Born	Chantal Anne Akerman (1950-06-06)6 June 1950 Brussels, Belgium
Died	5 October 2015(2015-10-05) (aged 65) Paris, France
Burial place	Père Lachaise Cemetery
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor
Years active	1968–2015
Notable work	Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Je Tu Il Elle, Les Rendez-vous d'Anna, News from Home

Chantal Anne Akerman (French: [ʃɑ̃tal akɛʁman]; 6 June 1950 – 5 October 2015) was a famous Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor. She taught at the City College of New York.

She is best known for her films like Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), News from Home (1977), and Je Tu Il Elle (1974). In 2022, Jeanne Dielman was named the greatest film of all time in a big poll by Sight & Sound magazine. This made Chantal Akerman the first woman director to ever top that list! Her other two films also ranked high in the same poll.

Many film experts say Akerman had a huge impact on films made by women and on avant-garde (experimental) cinema. Some even call her "one of the most significant directors of our times."

Early Life and Education

Chantal Akerman was born in Brussels, Belgium. Her parents were Jewish and had survived the Holocaust. She had one older sister named Sylviane. Chantal was very close to her mother, Natalia (Nelly), who had survived the Auschwitz camp. Her mother encouraged her to have a career instead of getting married young.

When she was 18, Akerman started film school in Belgium. But she left during her first term. She wanted to make her first short film, Saute ma ville. She even funded it herself by trading diamond shares on the stock market!

Her Work as a Filmmaker

Early Films and Inspirations

At just 15 years old, Chantal Akerman watched Jean-Luc Godard's film Pierrot le fou (1965). This movie inspired her to become a filmmaker. Her first short film, Saute ma ville (1968), was shown at a festival in 1971.

That same year, she moved to New York City and stayed there until 1972. She felt this time was very important for her. She saw films by artists like Andy Warhol and Jonas Mekas. She also learned from Michael Snow's film La région centrale. This film made her realize that "time is the most important thing in film." During this time, she also started working with cinematographer Babette Magnolte.

Her first full-length film was the documentary Hotel Monterey (1972). In this film, and in her short films La Chambre 1 and La Chambre 2, she used long takes. This means the camera would record for a long time without cutting. This style became a special part of her filmmaking.

Becoming Famous

One of Akerman's most famous films is Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. When it first came out, a newspaper called Le Monde said it was the "first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema."

In December 2022, something amazing happened. Jeanne Dielman was voted the greatest film of all time by film critics in Sight & Sound magazine's "Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time" list. This was a huge moment because it was the first time a film directed by a woman topped this famous list!

Exploring Daily Life

Chantal Akerman often used everyday places, like kitchens, in her films. She used these spaces to show how women's lives connect with their homes and daily tasks. The kitchens in her movies were places where people connected and talked. They also showed how homes could sometimes feel like a trap for women because of old traditions.

Akerman believed that there isn't just one way for women to express themselves in film. She said, "when people say there is a feminist film language, it is like saying there is only one way for women to express themselves." She thought that every person could have their own unique way of telling stories through film.

Her films often showed how personal experiences are connected to bigger ideas in society. She used realistic scenes to challenge old ideas about what it means to be a "woman."

Later Career

Later in her career, Akerman tried different types of films. She made the comedy Golden Eighties (1986) and several documentaries. Her last film, No Home Movie, was released in 2015.

In 1991, Akerman was a judge at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival. She also became a film professor at the City College of New York in 2011. She also taught film at The European Graduate School.

Art Exhibitions

Chantal Akerman's artwork has been shown in many important exhibitions. These include shows at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Belgium (2012), MIT in Massachusetts (2008), and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel (2006). Her work was also part of big art events like Documenta XI (2002) and the Venice Biennale (2001).

In 2011, a special collection of her films was shown at the Austrian Film Museum.

Her last video art project, Now, was shown at the 2015 Venice Biennale. It showed different screens with moving landscapes. In 2018, the Jewish Museum in New York showed this artwork and added it to their collection.

Filming Style

Akerman's films often show ordinary, everyday life. She wanted viewers to be patient with a slow pace. This helped her films highlight the human side of daily routines. An art curator named Kathy Halbreich said Akerman "creates a cinema of waiting, of passages, of resolutions deferred."

Many of Akerman's films show people moving across distances or feeling stuck in small spaces. Curator Jon Davies noted that her indoor scenes often "conceal gendered labour and violence, secrecy and shame." She used a slow, careful style to make viewers feel the passage of time.

Akerman was inspired by European art films and structuralist films. Structuralist films use experiments with how a film is made to connect the image and the viewer. Akerman mentioned Michael Snow as an inspiration, especially his film Wavelength. This film is one long shot of a photograph of the sea, with the camera slowly zooming in. Akerman liked the slow pace of structuralism because it was different from movies that only cared about the plot.

Art historian Terrie Sultan said Akerman's stories were very detailed and visually beautiful. Akerman created her stories through the way she filmed, rather than just a simple plot.

Many other directors have said that Akerman's style influenced their own work. Directors like Kelly Reichardt, Gus Van Sant, and Sofia Coppola have used real-time filming as a way to honor Akerman.

Her Family

Chantal Akerman had a very close relationship with her mother. This special bond was shown in several of her films. In News from Home (1976), her mother's letters about everyday family life are read throughout the film. Her 2015 film No Home Movie focuses on mother-daughter relationships. Much of it was filmed in her mother's kitchen in the months before her mother passed away in 2014.

Akerman said that her mother was at the heart of her work. She felt a bit lost after her mother's death. Images of mothers can be seen in many of Akerman's films. This was her way of honoring her mother and trying to bring her image and voice back to life. In her book Family in Brussels, Akerman tells the story by mixing her own voice with her mother's.

Death

Chantal Akerman passed away on October 5, 2015. Her last film was the documentary No Home Movie. It showed conversations with her mother shortly before her mother's death. Akerman said about the film: "I think if I knew I was going to do this, I wouldn't have dared to do it."

According to Akerman's sister, Chantal had been in the hospital for depression. She had returned home to Paris ten days before she died.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Documentaries

Images for kids

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See also

In Spanish: Chantal Akerman para niños

• List of female film and television directors
• List of lesbian filmmakers
• List of LGBT-related films directed by women