In this historical video interview from 1976 Chantal Akerman discusses her early films and the development of her particular vision with B. Ruby Rich. This transcript also includes an introduction written for this Film Quarterly special issue by Rich, which provides added context for the reader in order to understand and appreciate this voice from the archive. Akerman was just becoming known at the time this interview was recorded: even cinephiles did not yet know her name. Her earlier work had not been shown or written about in the United States, and had barely been given any attention at all. This interview, therefore, represents what is very much a getting-to-know-you conversation, for there was little available to read about her in 1976, nothing about the earlier work, and pre-internet, no access to any of it. The video interview is available from Video Data Bank, who generously granted FQ permission to publish the transcript.
University of California Press