No Home Movie

The center of her comprehensive oeuvre – as Chantal Akerman herself put it – is formed by her mother Natalia (Nelly), a Polish Jew who was the only member of her family to survive Auschwitz and never spoke about her experiences afterwards. Following videos, books and installations that engaged with the life of her mother and their relationship, NO HOME MOVIE was made in the last months of her life. An important element of this moving portrait are the conversations between mother and daughter, sometimes via Skype, otherwise recorded in the mother’s apartment in Brussels. “It’s about untied shoelaces, pickled gherkins and family anecdotes – any attempt to get her to speak about the camp is resisted by the mother to the end. A great amount of intimacy and tenderness can be felt, as well as the hugely close bonds between these two inseparable people.”  (Birgit Kohler)