(Portrait d'une jeune fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles)
Directed by Chantal Akerman
60 minutes
In French with English subtitles

Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman was asked to make a short one hour movie about the music and atmosphere of what it was like to be young in the 60s. Of course the film became largely autobiographical, but that doesn't mean it doesn't shine and explode with magic. Today we have movies that are hyped up, where everything is charged, everything has to be sexy. This kind of film is the opposite, it allows the mood and atmosphere to sink in and touch your soul. In the end it is this intimacy that makes it devastating. 

What is the topic? It follows Michèle who is simply trying to figure out her life, so she ditches school and goes to see some friends and tries to talk it out. She also tries to open herself  to romance and explore her sexuality. But what we are talking about here is certainly not a party film, that's for sure. It is a journey that includes loneliness, confusion and melancholy. And in a brave move for a movie set in March 1968, Chantal Akerman show's her characters strolling through 1990s Brussels without changing the decor at all. She rightly focuses on the mood and tone rather than the superficial elements. The film is largely about alienation, gender and sexuality, with a queer edge.

This is an incredibly rare screening of this outcast gem that broke many hearts, but brightened many hearts at the same time. 

+ prefilm:
       
SUPERSTAR - THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY  1987
Directed by Todd Haynes
45 minutes
In English 

Now that the Barbie movie hype seems to have died down, maybe it's time to show a movie that uses Barbie in a proper way rather than as product placement. This cult film remains one of the more infamous banned films of the last century. 

Director Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine) made this biopic about the tragically romantic rockstar couple known as The Carpenters, and the entire cast is played by Barbie dolls. Attempting to fit into the slim stereotype of how a young woman should look, singer Karen Carpenter died of anorexia in 1983. Before the director even had a chance to show this flick, word had gotten out and Haynes was attacked on three fronts at the same time—by A&M Records, Mattel, and band member Richard Carpenter. This immediately led to the film being banned by legal threats. Today it's a treasured relic, and it remains a sharp commentary on the effects of society and how they can destroy people's lives.