Chantal Akerman has died aged 65

Akerman leaves behind a groundbreaking body of work, including the three-hour classic Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.

6 October 2015

By Sam Wigley

Chantal Akerman © Elizabeth Lennard/Opale/Leemage

The great Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman has died aged 65. Best-known for her three-hour 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, made when she was just 25 years old, Akerman was a groundbreaking figure in feminist and experimental cinema.

Inspired to take up filmmaking by a youthful viewing of Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965), Akerman made her debut feature, Je tu il elle, in 1974. Advancing on that film’s experiments with duration, she followed it with Jeanne Dielman, charting the daily routine of a Brussels housewife (Delphine Seyrig). A key experimental work of the 1970s, it was recently voted the 35th best film ever made in a Sight & Sound poll, the highest placement for a film directed by a woman.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

Later films include News from Home (1976), Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (1979), Nuit et jour (1991) and D’est (1993). Her Joseph Conrad adaptation Almayer’s Folly screened in the BFI London Film Festival in 2011. More recently, her work has been celebrated in London in a full retrospective organised by the film collective A nos amours, while her latest film, No Home Movie (2015), premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in August.

BFI Player logo

Stream landmark cinema

Free for 14 days, then £4.99/month or £49/year.

Try for free

Other things to explore

news

38th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival wraps with audiences up, global talent attendance and 5 world premieres

38th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival wraps with audiences up, global talent attendance and 5 world premieres
news

Melanie Hoyes appointed as BFI Director of Inclusion

Melanie Hoyes appointed as BFI Director of Inclusion
news

First call for projects tackling critical challenges for UK screen sector

First call for projects tackling critical challenges for UK screen sector