News From Home (1977)

Lees in het Nederlands

News from Home is a haunting portrait of 1970s New York. As the camera wanders through a deserted and anonymous Manhattan, Chantal Akerman reads aloud personal letters from her mother, who is desperately trying to reach her from Belgium. Because Akerman’s replies are missing and she herself never appears on screen, a palpable tension arises between proximity and distance.

This film screening is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Graffiti. Much like Akerman, graffiti writers leave their personal voice behind in an anonymous urban environment, literally adding a new layer to the city. News from Home is set between 1971 and 1973, a period when the city was undergoing rapid transformation and graffiti was becoming an increasingly prominent part of the public space. Graffiti is therefore visibly present in the film’s raw streetscapes.

With its long, observational shots and iconic final shot—in which Manhattan slowly disappears into the fog—News from Home stands as one of Akerman’s most influential films. Much like the exhibition, Akerman’s work invites you to look differently at your surroundings and the stories hidden within the city.

Practical Information

• Director: Chantal Akerman
• Cinematography: Babette Mangolte 
• Year of production: 1977. In 2013 gerestaureerd door de Koninklijke Cinematheek van België (CINEMATEK). 
• Duration: 85 min. 
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Including extended introduction [ENGLISH SPOKEN]

About Chantal Akerman

Chantal Akerman (1950–2015) was an influential Belgian filmmaker, artist, and writer, widely regarded as one of the most important European directors of her generation. Inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou, she began making films at a young age and developed her own radical style, influenced by both experimental cinema and personal themes such as identity, memory, feminism, and human connection. Her most famous film, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), is considered a milestone in film history and feminist cinema. In addition to her roughly fifty films, Akerman created video installations and authored several books. Her groundbreaking work continues to be a major source of inspiration for filmmakers worldwide.

Credits still: Collections CINEMATEK © Chantal Akerman Foundation