Je tu il elle

I You, He, She

Akerman’s debut feature, with its 10-minute lesbian sex scene, revealed its maker to be a radical and uncompromising force in cinema.

  • Director

    Chantal Akerman

  • With

    Chantal Akerman, Niels Arestrup, Claire Wauthion

  • Belgium-France 1974. 86min

  • Digital (restoration)

  • Certificate

    18

  • English subtitles

Akerman’s ambiguous triptych was based on her experiences hitchhiking from Paris to Brussels. A woman (played by the filmmaker) holes up in a room, obsessively eating sugar and rearranging furniture. Then we follow her hunt for love and connection – first with a truck driver, then an ex-lover. With its uninterrupted erotic-free ten-minute lesbian sex scene, this is one of the most radical and assured sequences in any feature debut from the 1970s.

The screenings on Monday 17 February 18:20 NFT2 and Friday 21 March 20:40 NFT2 will be presented with additional Descriptive Subtitles of non-dialogue audio.

The screening of Je tu il elle on Tuesday 25 February 18:10 NFT1 will include an extended intro by Melanie Iredale, Director of Reclaim The Frame.

Also available on BFI Player