Chantal Akerman

In autumn 2022, as a prelude to the major retrospective that will be dedicated to her in 2024, Bozar will present a rarely shown installation by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. Selfportrait/Autobiography: A work in progress (1998) is spectacularly presented through six to eight monitors and contains images from several of her films that have marked and punctuated her career: Hôtel Monterey (1972), Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), Toute une nuit (A Whole Night/All Night Long, 1982) and D'Est (From the East, 1993). Simple, meticulously chosen shots in which characters are busy with everyday tasks or frozen in expectation, like the endless lines of people standing still in the snowy streets of Moscow. The artist's voice-over is the common thread of the installation, reproducing the intimate journey of one of the greatest Belgian directors of the 20th century through extracts from her book Une famille à Bruxelles (A Family in Brussels).