Chantal Akerman: Adventures in Perception

Although best known for her landmark second feature, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), which topped the Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time Poll in 2022 (becoming the first female-directed film to take the number one spot since the poll’s inception in 1952), Chantal Akerman never stopped rebelling, continuously experimenting throughout her career to challenge the formal and narrative boundaries of film.

Born in Brussels in 1950 and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Akerman directed more than 40 films (short, medium, and feature-length) in almost 50 years, spanning fiction, documentary, musical comedy and literary adaptation. Today she is regarded as one of the most important and influential directors of her generation.

Akerman’s personal, non-conformist body of work has become increasingly relevant since her death in 2015, resonating with film lovers globally as well as filmmakers including Joanna Hogg, Payal Kapadia, Céline Sciamma, Sean Baker, Alice Diop and Charlotte Wells, who all have cited her radical and experimental approach to filmmaking as a direct inspiration.

Throughout February and March, we’ll be celebrating the director's extraordinary impact on contemporary cinema with an extensive season of her works, from the early 70s through to her final feature No Home Movie (2015).

Also don’t miss our Chantal Akerman: A Primer event, where Isabel Stevens (Managing Editor of Sight & Sound and the curator of the BFI’s Akerman retrospective) will be here to provide a whistle-stop tour of Akerman’s preoccupations, influence and brilliance to give an introduction to the exciting season ahead.

With thanks to the BFI, Sight & Sound and the Fondation Chantal Akerman.

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