Chantal Akerman

My Mother Laughs

syadrina

some parts i am an observer; some parts i'm the audience. some parts i am having a conversation with her. it feels like i'm taking a peek at a diary written specifically for her therapist. i was pushed to understand her way of thinking or maybe i just get her to an extent. scattered in melancholic fragments, beautifully unorganized. i get reminded of my very few journal entries (except i can never grace the shelves because i am not chantal akerman, but i find comfort in her vulnerable sentimental tales-- confessions whispered through the pages).

an audiobook of this would sound comforting. i can feel her voice in my ear. i look at the pictures waiting for them to bring me to places, but it's like chantal was there next to me, shuffling those photographs the way an aunt would to her niece.

Elena Kuran

First published in France in 2013, My Mother Laughs is the final book written by the legendary and beloved Belgian artist and director Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) before her death. A moving and unforgettable memoir, the book delves deeply into one of the central themes and focuses of Akerman's often autobiographical films: her mother, who was the direct subject of her final film No Home Movie (2015). With a particular focus on the difficulties Akerman faced in conjunction with the end of her mother's life, the book combines a matter-of-fact writing style with family photographs and stills from her own films in order to better convey the totality of her experience. Akerman writes: "With pride because I believed at last in my ability to say something that I'd had trouble saying. I told myself, I am strong for once, I speak. I speak the truth." Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist and professor. She is best known for her film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), which was dubbed a "masterpiece" by the New York Times. During her 42 years of active filmmaking, Akerman's influence on queer, feminist and avant-garde cinema remains unmatched, her films highlighting a near-physical passage of time. Akerman's films have been shown at the Venice Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, among many others.

My Mother Laughs

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