Je tu il elle (Ich du er sie)

JE TU IL ELLE is Chantal Akerman's feature film debut, written at the age of 18 and shot when she was 24. Akerman had previously made the films HOTEL MONTEREY (1972) AND LA CHAMBRE (1972) in New York, where she lived for some time and was inspired by the avant-garde movements in dance, theatre and film. Like her New York works, JE TU IL ELLE is also a scanning of spaces, plus the exploration of relationships, to oneself and to others, narrative resistance and in delicate black and white. At the centre is a young woman (played by the director herself) who sets off on a journey from the confines of a room, meets people and leaves them again, exploring her desires. Akerman's approach to the medium of film is just as searching as her protagonist, formally brittle and sensual at the same time, always open to taking a new direction. (Andrea Pollach)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum