Episode 187: Chantal Akerman (feat. Kate Blair + Sharon Gissy)

80% of the crew for Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman were women. For this episode, I needed the perspective and insights from two of the smartest women I know. Returning guest Kate Blair and newcomer Sharon Gissy join me to discuss this remarkable (and oftentimes challenging) Belgian director that completely changed European cinema back in the mid-70s. We talk about six Chantal Akerman films she’s made mostly in chronological order and several are available on the Criterion Channel. Just a heads up we had technical difficulties for the last 20 minutes so the show had to be cut a bit shorter than usual but I explain in the episode once we reach the outro. We start with her short film debut and end on her poignant documentary News From Home. Similar themes and ideas pop up along the way. For the what we watched recently segment, titles include Rachel Getting Married, Psycho Goreman, Last Year At Marienbad and QAnon: Into The Storm. Thank you so much to my wonderful guests for coming on to talk about a truly special filmmaker. Also just a heads up that the next episode on Louis Malle may not come out until the very end of May due to busy schedules from both myself and the guests. 00:00 - 08:30 - Introduction 08:31 - 09:25 - What We Watched Song 09:26 - 35:35 - What We Watched Recently 35:36 - 36:39 - Director Song 36:40 - 02:03:22 - Chantal Akerman Discussion 02:03:23 - 02:08:32 - Top Three Akerman Films / Outro Portrait Of A Young Girl At The End Of 60s In Brussels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ijI-wOhbQo Watch Chantal Akerman Films:https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-chantal-akerman-2 Mental Filmness Festival Hosted By Sharon:https://mentalfilmness.comhttps://www.facebook.com/mentalfilmness Voices & Visions Reviews From Sharon: https://www.voicesvisions.net/reviews/tag/sharongissy Letterboxd Reviews From Kate:https://letterboxd.com/selective_kate Voices & Visions Reviews From Kate:https://www.voicesvisions.net/reviews/tag/kateblair Follow Me On Letterboxd (but not on Twitter ever again): https://letterboxd.com/jimlaczkowski/list/episode-187-chantal-akerman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit directorsclub.substack.com/subscribe