Director Watch Podcast Ep. 139 – ‘Les Rendez-vous d’Anna’ (Chantal Akerman, 1978)
On episode 139 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter discuss the next film in their Chantal Akerman series, Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (1978).
Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.
It’s not easy following up what people consider to be the greatest film of all time, but Akerman, her next feature film seemed to be another perfect, meticulous examination of a woman’s journey through life, continuing the trend she’s looked at within the first two films of this series. But what makes Les Rendez-vous d’Anna such a fascinating film is that the picture feels as if it’s from someone who has lived a life, and as they enter their thirties, their reflection on who they are, what they’ve done in their life, and what their purpose becomes clearer as she meets more and more figures of her past. It’s a blistering, meta look into the director’s life at the time, and what she thought about choosing her art over a more normal type of life. Ryan and Jay break down their thoughts on the film and how they see the turning points of their lives reflected within the honest piece of cinema by Akerman.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen on the AW YouTube page.
This podcast runs 1h29m. The guys will be back next week to conclude their series on the films of Chantal Akerman with a review of her next film, A Couch in New York. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
Engrossed with all things Oscars, he hosts the AwardsWatch Podcast, alongside members of the AwardsWatch Team. He is also the co-host of the Director Watch podcast with Jay Ledbetter, covering director movie series of cinemas’ greatest auteurs.
Ryan covers multiple film festivals a year including Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, Toronto, New York, Middleburg, and AFI where he reviews films and interviews top talent.
When he’s not watching movies, he’s rooting on all his favorite sports teams, including his beloved Texas Longhorns. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) and the Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS).
Jay Ledbetter is a finance manager by day, film critic by night living in Atlanta, Georgia. He began writing about film in 2013 and is not afraid to confront people of all ages if they are too loud in the theater.
As well as his reviews, Jay is the co-host of the Director Watch podcast with Ryan McQuade, our director movie series covering cinemas’ greatest auteurs. In addition to his work at AwardsWatch, Jay has written and hosted podcasts for Film Inquiry and InSession Film. He is an auteur obsessive, regularly diving deep into the filmographies of celebrated filmmakers.
Jay is a proud member of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle and the Georgia Film Critics Association.
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