The Akerman Year

Kate and Simon are joined by author and film academic Rebecca Sheehan [https://communications.fullerton.edu/ctva/faculty/sheehan_rebecca/index.php] to dissect two later Akerman features, including her final scripted feature, bound together in this episode by their respective takes on literary giants. First up is 2000's La Captive, derived from a section of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time; next is Almayer's Folly, derived from the Joseph Conrad novella/story of the same name. Music by: Rachmaninoff, Mozart. If you like the show or what we do generally, consider throwing us a few bucks to help cover our costs: https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod [https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod] Our intro music is performed by Sundar Subramanian. You can stream and buy his work here: https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/ [https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/]

Film scholar and author Patricia White [https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/patricia-white] joins us to tackle a couple of Akerman's more direct attempts at self-portraiture (Lettre d'un Cinéaste and Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman), along with Sami Frey's behind-the-scenes chronicle Autour de Jeanne Dielman (edited by Akerman in the early 2000s). Discussed: the greatness of Delphine Seyrig, the joy of listening to Akerman talk about movies, her push-pull approach to tackling commissioned work, and (of course) much more. Music by: The Peter Parkers, Tim Hecker, Sandy Denny. If you like the show or what we do generally, consider throwing us a few bucks to help cover our costs: https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod [https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod] Our intro music is performed by Sundar Subramanian. You can stream and buy his work here: https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/ [https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/]

Riding guest-free for a change, Kate and Simon tackle three films (a short and two features) that touch on issues of racism, injustice, and murder: the Amnesty International-prompted Pour Febe Elisabeth Velasquez, El Salvador, 1999's Sud and 2002's De L'Autre Coté. We also dive a little more than usual into criticisms of Akerman's documentary work/style and consider how the intervening decades have treated Akerman's portraits of American racism and violence. If you like the show or what we do generally, consider throwing us a few bucks to help cover our costs: https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod [https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod] Our intro music is performed by Sundar Subramanian. You can stream and buy his work here: https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/ [https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/]

With the help of scholar and filmmaker Alisa Lebow, who arrives armed with memories of meeting and speaking with Akerman, we tackle some of the Akerman work most inherently tied up with questions and challenges of Jewish identity, history and politics. These films are: 1980's medium-length TV doc Dis-Moi (Tell Me); 1986's tragicomic examination of Jewish life in New York, Histoires d'Amerique, and 2006's experimental and bracing La-Bas (Down There). Check out Alisa's Filming Revolution here: https://www.filmingrevolution.org/ [https://www.filmingrevolution.org/] Music: Do Make Say Think "Goodbye enemy Airship" Mary 'Queenie' Lyons "See and Don't See" If youlike the show or what we do generally, consider throwing us a few bucks to help cover our costs: https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod [https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod] Our intro music is performed by Sundar Subramanian. You can stream and buy his work here: https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/ [https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/]

After a mid-season siesta, we're back with one of the most obviously pleasurable and accessible groupings of any episode of The Akerman Year: that's right, it's time for musicals. Girish Shambu is on with us to talk about the beguiling whatsit Les Années 80, the one-hour TV documentary One Day Pina Asked, and finally Akerman's long-in-the-making Golden Eighties. (Apologies for the blown-out sound on Simon's mic. Those responsible are above sacking but have received a strong reprimand.) Read the Pajama interview in LOLA: http://www.lolajournal.com/2/pajama.html [http://www.lolajournal.com/2/pajama.html] If you like the show or what we do generally, consider throwing us a few bucks to help cover our costs: https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod [https://paypal.me/kateandsimonpod] Our intro music is performed by Sundar Subramanian. You can stream and buy his work here: https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/ [https://sundarsubramanian.bandcamp.com/]