Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles returns to cinemas this February

BFI Distribution has sent over the UK trailer for the 50th anniversary rerelease of Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles directed by Chantal Akerman. Voted Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time in the 2022 Critics’ poll (the first time a female filmmaker has taken the number one spot since the poll’s inception in 1952), Akerman’s groundbreaking film is rereleased in UK and Irish cinemas on 7 February 2025, central to the BFI’s major, near complete BFI Southbank retrospective season ‘Chantal Akerman: Adventures in Perception’ running from 3 February to 18 March followed by a BFI Blu-ray release as part of Chantal Akerman Collection Volume 1: 1967-1978, released on 24 February 2025.

Heralded by Le Monde in January 1976 as “the first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema”, Chantal Akerman’s landmark second feature, the mesmerising Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles follows the meticulous daily routine of its titular lead over the course of three days. Presented at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1975, the film brought the then 24-year-old Akerman international recognition. A cornerstone of feminist cinema, Chantal Akerman’s cinematically radical film challenged the status quo when it was originally released and continues to do so today 50 years later.

A “love film” for Chantal Akerman’s mother, a Holocaust survivor who could never discuss her past with her daughter. A film about women’s overlooked everyday lives. A film that upends epic cinema. A film about a housewife obsessed with her daily routine to suppress anxiety. A film about psychology but with little emotion. A film made with a mostly female crew, including cinematographer Babette Mangolte and editor Patricia Canino, that transformed European art cinema’s most glamorous star (Delphine Seyrig) into a seemingly unremarkable single mother. But above all, a revolutionary film due to Akerman’s treatment of time and space. To watch Jeanne Dielman is to submit to Akerman’s unrelenting gaze and to be trapped with Jeanne in her domestic space.

Regarded as one of cinema’s most important and influential directors of her generation. Chantal Akerman’s work has become increasingly relevant since her death in 2015, resonating with cinephiles globally as well as filmmakers including Joanna Hogg (The Eternal Daughter), Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine As Light), Céline Sciamma (Petite Maman), Sean Baker (Anora), Alice Diop (Saint Omer) Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Charlotte Wells (Aftersun) and Carol Morley (Typist Artist Pirate King) citing Akerman as an inspiration. Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) has said she watches Jeanne Dielman before starting any new project. Greta Gerwig is likewise enthusiastic, having said that she included the take of the mother sewing in Lady Bird as an homage.