Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

No Home But Cinema: The Spaces of Chantal Akerman
This new video essay by writer and critic Jessica McGoff, traces the restless movement in the works of Chantal Akerman, where the concept of home is always slipping just out of reach.
Director: Jessica McGoff
Overview
While Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles remains Chantal Akermanβs most celebrated work, her cinema stretches far beyond that iconic kitchen. Her films map spaces that feel both intimate and uninhabitable, tethered to history yet unmoored from time. No Home but Cinema, a new video essay by writer and critic Jessica McGoff, traces Akermanβs restless movement through bedrooms and kitchens, city streets and borders, where the concept of home is always slipping just out of reach. In an era of mass displacement and digital alienation, Akermanβs films feel more vital than ever: cinema as an act of remembering, of inhabiting absence, and of lingering in the spaces we leave behind.
Related

Visions, Dreams and Magic: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell Visions, Dreams and Magic: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell
Short documentary 2024 41 mins Director: Nic Wassell
Discover the unrealised visions and passion projects of revered British filmmaker Michael Powell, in this fascinating documentary featuring Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker.

Brother Brother
Drama 2022 120 mins Director: Clement Virgo
Clement Virgoβs film is a stunning portrait of wounded masculinity.

On Falling On Falling
Drama 2025 101 mins Director: Laura Carreira
The importance of human connection lies at the heart of this powerful, nuanced portrait of a young Portuguese warehouse employee in Scotland.

The Balconettes The Balconettes
Comedy 2024 104 mins Director: NoΓ©mie Merlant
Co-written with CΓ©line Sciamma, NoΓ©mie Merlantβs bright and bold film follows three friends as they try to dispose of the body of an abuser theyβve accidentally killed.

Barking Dogs Never Bite Barking Dogs Never Bite
Comedy 2000 111 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
A professor takes drastic action to silence a barking dog in this superb debut feature from Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite.

Memories of Murder Memories of Murder
Detective drama 2003 131 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
A pair of detectives clash trying to solve the brutal murder of two women, in Bong Joon-hoβs masterful blend of true crime and dark social satire.

The Noose The Noose
Drama 1958 98 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
Wojciech Hasβ dazzling feature debut, a bleak, mordantly funny, all too human portrait of an alcoholic.

The Saragossa Manuscript The Saragossa Manuscript
Fantasy 1965 183 mins Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
During the Napoleonic wars, a soldier discovers a strange manuscript that reveals endless stories-within-stories. Wojciech Has' opus is a major cult film of the 60s, revered by Luis BuΓ±uel, David Lynch and Jerry Garcia.