“Les rendez-vous d’Anna” (1978) | Chantal Akerman

Les rendez-vous d’Anna
(Chantal Akerman, 1978, 127 min, France/Belgium, French with English subtitles, color, DCP)

Introduced by Camille Chanod (Romance Studies)

In one of Akerman’s most penetrating character studies, Anna, an accomplished filmmaker (played by Aurore Clément), makes her way through a series of European cities to promote her latest movie. Via a succession of eerie, exquisitely shot, brief encounters—with men and women, family and strangers—we come to see her emotional and physical detachment from the world. New 4k restoration.

“Akerman’s use of long takes and open spaces delineates the gulf that separates her characters from their environment and from each other. While the atmosphere of anomie may be familiar from countless European art films, it is Akerman’s intense emotionality, held desperately in check by her precise camera style, that makes this effort something special (1978).” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader