BAMcinématek has announced it will present a tribute to filmmaker Chantal Akerman called Chantal Akerman: Images Between the Images.
Akerman’s career began in the 1960s when she told intimate, personal stories via an avant garde style. Her films resonated with the changing artistic landscape of the time. She was embraced by progressive audiences, and greatly influenced feminist filmmaking going forward.
Her last film, “No Home Movie,” is a portrait of her relationship with her mother, Natalia, a Holocaust survivor. Akerman said in her own words, “No Home Movie” is “a film of love, a film about loss, sometimes funny, sometimes terrible. But viewed with an eye that keeps a respectful distance, I think. A film where a transmission occurs, discreetly, almost effortlessly, without pathos, in a kitchen in Brussels.”
Akerman visited similar themes in her other films, such as “Dis Moi” (1980), which finds Akerman interviewing Jewish women over coffee, describing their horrific tales of surviving the Holocaust. “Histoires d’Amérique” (1989) explores the histories of generations of Jewish immigrants as they share memories, jokes and anecdotes.
Akerman also documented some of the most prominent female artists of the 20th century, such as dancer Pina Bausch and musician Sonia Wieder-Atherton. Of Bausch, Akerman said, “I was overcome by an emotion I can’t quite define.”
Akerman died on October 5, 2015 from an apparent suicide.
BAM’s tribute will run from April 1 through May 1. For more information about the lineup and tickets, visit BAM’s website.
[via Press materials]
