MEETINGS OF ANNA (LES RENDEZ-VOUS D’ANNA) Cinema's Legacy

Anna (Aurore Clément) is a respected Belgian filmmaker on a no-frills European tour promoting her latest film. As she travels from city to city, she has a series of startling encounters with different men and women — from an ex-lover, to her mother and even complete strangers — all of which seem to underscore Anna’s uneasy place in an increasingly dreary and anonymous Western Europe. Master auteur Chantal Akerman casts her rhythmic spell with MEETINGS OF ANNA, which operates at its own pace and on a uniquely immersive wavelength, and features a cool, quiet performance by Clément as the detached Anna. The film screens at AFI FEST as a U.S.-premiere restoration by Janus Films on a brand-new DCP. – Beth Hanna