Restoring Chantal Akerman's Films #4
Restoring Chantal Akerman's Films #4
The Valorization of the Work
The restoration of Chantal Akerman's film Demain on déménage by the Royal Film Archive of Belgium took place while the institution was preparing and organizing the retrospective dedicated to her from March to July 2024. This is an opportunity to review and examine over ten years of work on the restoration of her films. Céline Brouwez, who works on the valorization of Chantal Akerman's work within the Fondation Chantal Akerman and CINEMATEK, explains how the restoration of her films is part of a broader effort to enhance her oeuvre.
The Fondation Chantal Akerman was established in 2017 by Sylviane Akerman, fulfilling her sister's wish to see her films preserved and perpetuated. Chantal Akerman had laid the groundwork in collaboration with CINEMATEK and its then-conservator Nicola Mazzanti, and she had already entrusted the restoration of her films to the institution in 2012-2013, starting with Hotel Monterey. Chantal Akerman supervised the restoration of her early titles up to Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Film enthusiasts had long lamented, and rightly so, that her films were not widely visible or circulated. To date, more than 20 films have been digitized and restored, allowing for broad accessibility and greater visibility. The impact of Chantal Akerman's work is extremely vibrant, and her films, now in restored versions, are screened daily in cinematheques, cinemas and festivals around the world.
The distribution in theaters and beyond – including on platforms and for home video projects – has been carefully planned by the Fondation Chantal Akerman and CINEMATEK, who have surrounded themselves with international partners and distributors sharing the same editorial line and vision for enhancing Chantal Akerman's work. Initially hesitant about online circulation, the Fondation and CINEMATEK made the films available on a few platforms in 2020 during the lockdown and the cinema closures. This online availability remains relevant and also contributes to the (re)recognition of her work.
Beyond film restoration and distribution, the Fondation promotes knowledge and research around Chantal Akerman's work by preserving the archives of Paradise Films, the production company she founded with Marilyn Watelet in the 1970s. These archives gather numerous unique documents – iconographic material, intention notes, scripts, production documents – that provide deep insight into her work. In line with the international interest in her films, researchers from around the world can consult these documents preserved at CINEMATEK's documentation center. A selection of these archives is now published by the publishing house L’Arachnéen, in partnership with the Fondation Chantal Akerman and CINEMATEK, in a three-volume set titled Chantal Akerman, Œuvre écrite et parlée.
The Fondation Chantal Akerman and CINEMATEK also organize more targeted valorization initiatives, one of the first objectives being to reposition Chantal Akerman in Brussels, among the Belgian and Brussels public. This led to the program Chantal Akerman, a Filmmaker in Brussels, which in October 2022 featured the re-release of the restoration of Toute une nuit (1982), a guided tour of the film’s shooting locations, a reading by Aurore
Clément of the text Une famille à Bruxelles, and the presentation of the installation Selfportrait/Autobiography: A Work in Progress at Bozar. It was the creation of a Brussels portrait, honoring Chantal Akerman's multidisciplinary nature and illustrating her ties to her hometown. In 2024, the Fondation and CINEMATEK are presenting a more ambitious tribute inviting an in-depth discovery of Akerman’s work in collaboration with Bozar: the extensive exhibition Chantal Akerman: Travelling, featuring unreleased films, archives, and installations, alongside the complete retrospective at CINEMATEK, accompanied by a carte blanche showcasing her reference films.
With great pride, the Fondation and CINEMATEK also participate in and celebrate the enthusiasm and emergence of recent national and international initiatives: in December 2022, the British magazine Sight and Sound announced that Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was named the "Greatest Film of all Time" by over 1600 critics and film specialists, and in September 2023, the City of Brussels honored Chantal Akerman in the public space with the inauguration of the Chantal Akerman Alley – located between the two quays of Commerce – and the creation of a mural dedicated to Jeanne Dielman.
These examples of multiplying tributes confirm the relevance and value of our work and the importance of the efforts made by CINEMATEK and the Fondation to support and enhance the essential and magnificent work of Chantal Akerman.
To learn more about the designation of Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles as the "Greatest Film of all Time":
- Article
The greatest film of all time: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Article by Laura Mulvey on the British Film Institute website.
Laura Mulvey will also present the screenings of La Paresse and Golden Eighties on May 10 at 21:00, and her film Riddles of the Sphinx on May 10 at 19:00.
The restoration of Demain on déménage is supported and financed by Belspo, the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the European Union – NextGeneration EU, and the National Lottery and its players.
