‘News from Home’ by Chantal Akerman: The autobiographical documen-tary in the context of contemporary documentary

Abstract

This research focuses on Chantal Akerman’s documentary ‘News from Home’ (1977), as an example of an autobio-graphical documentary made by women. The filmmaker’s story goes through the foundations of the filial maternal relationship to provoke a reflection on the relationship between women, the generational pulse, the day-to-day routine or the extraordinary nature of their lives, the emotional void. Starting from the typologies of autobiograph-ical inscription (self-portrait, family cinema, amateur cinema, travel diary, filmed diary, filmed letters) the analysis of this piece will also allow us to identify many of the characteristics of contemporary autobiographical documentary, such as the renunciation of objectivity, the breaking of the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, or the use of a particular audiovisual grammar that acts as a catalyst for the expression of two universes: Akerman’s intimate world and its symbolic representation in contemporary documentary narrative.

Keywords

• cine documental
• documental autobiográfico
• documental íntimo
• auto-representación
• Chantal Akerman