Chantal Akerman (1950–2015) was a Belgian filmmaker, artist, and writer, widely regarded as one of the most influential directors of her generation. She is best known for her formally rigorous, experimental approach to cinema, often blending fiction, documentary, installation, and autobiography.

MoMA’s full retrospective of Akerman’s work, oscillating between cinema and contemporary art, spanning over 40 features and shorts in new digital restorations, marks the culmination of a years-long initiative by the Fondation Chantal Akerman and the Royal Film Archive of Belgium / CINEMATEK to catalogue and share her achievements in film, installation, and literature.

Alongside her restored feature films, from Je, tu, il, elle (1974), News from Home (1977), Golden Eighties (1986), D’Est (1993), and Demain on déménage (2004) to her landmark Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)—MoMA’s survey also foregrounds her mastery of the short form. These include the four 8mm exercises she created in 1967 to enter Brussels’s INSAS film school, to her collaborations with German choreographer Pina Bausch, Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, French cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, and actors Delphine Seyrig, Aurore Clément, Catherine Deneuve, and Sami Frey.

On September 9, within the Crossing the Line Festival and in partnership with MoMA, L’Alliance New York hosts the city premiere of D’Est en musique, a live event with Sonia Wieder-Atherton, at the Florence Gould Theater. Wieder-Atherton will likewise perform at MoMA ahead of the September 12 screening of Histoires d’Amérique.

Further highlights of the retrospective include guest appearances by Akerman’s cinematographer Babette Mangolte, her screenwriting partner Henry Bean, and an October 3 weekend with Aurore Clément, who will introduce Les Rendez-vous d’Anna, All Night Long, Tomorrow We Move, and other works.

Since her death in 2015, global audiences have engaged more deeply with Akerman’s her filmic and written archives. This major retrospective will take place between 11th September to 16th October.