SCREENING: Chantal Akerman, News from Home, 1977

From 1971 and 1973, young Belgian film director and artist Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) lived in New York amidst the budding experimental scene of other artists and filmmakers such as Babette Mangolte, Jonas Mekas, and Yvonne Rainer. During her stay there, her mother sends her many letters informing her of daily life back in Brussels: who got married, who passed away, how she worries about her daughter and hopes she is doing well.

In News from Home (1977), Akerman’s voice is heard reading these letters accompanied by imagery the streets and subway stations of New York. As such, this film is both a portrait of a woman – Akerman’s mother, but perhaps also, indirectly, Akerman herself – and of a city.

Following the screening, artist Manon de Boer shares her thoughts on News from Home and the oeuvre of Chantal Akerman, which holds an important place in relation to her own practice.

This screening is organized as part of A group exhibition with work by Dora García, Sharon Hayes, Emily Jacir, Mahmoud Khaled, Carlos Motta, Wu Tsang, and Akram Zaatari, as well as a letter by Quinn Latimer, which explores different aspects of letter writing, reading, and epistolary visual culture.