I Don't Belong Anywhere

A valedictory tone is pervasive throughout Marianne Lambert's documentary on feminist experimental filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who committed suicide at the age of 65 in 2015. Although Akerman was prolific, her films—both fiction and non-fiction—are still relatively obscure. Lambert includes clips from Akerman's oeuvre in this profile, which consists primarily of recollections by Akerman (sometimes joined by her longtime collaborator, editor Claire Atherton). Added to the mix are excerpts of interviews with admirers such as director Gus Van Sant, who expresses particular enthusiasm for her straightforward scene composition, and actress Aurore Clément, who talks about the sense of female solidarity she felt with Akerman. A number of themes emerge, beginning with the fact that Akerman led a nomadic existence—she was Belgian-born, but came to New York in the 1970s and delighted in working in unfamiliar locales, whether it was the American South, post-communist Eastern Europe, or Tel Aviv. Another is her strong connection with her mother, a Holocaust survivor from whose letters she quotes and who was the subject of her final film, No Home Movie. A third is her attitude toward cinematic tempo: she wanted viewers to deeply feel the passage of time. This last observation is one reason why her films are challenging, sometimes forbiddingly so (Akerman's best-known film, 1975's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, is a three-hour-plus study of a single mother and sex worker who repetitively goes about her daily chores). But Akerman was unquestionably a singular artist, making this posthumous tribute a most welcome one. Extras include an interview with Lynne Cooke of the National Gallery of Art on Akerman's museum installation work, and the featurette My Name Is Chantal Akerman, with behind-the-scenes footage of Akerman preparing her documentary South. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)