About the film

Tombée de nuit sur Shanghaï is Akerman’s contribution to the collective film L’état du monde (The State of the World, 2007), which includes short films on that subject by Pedro Costa, Vicente Ferraz, Wang Bing and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, commissioned by the Portuguese Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Akerman’s « Nightfall Over Shanghai (April 2007) » consists of little more than long-held vid shots of Shanghai skyscrapers and a floating boat, bearing giant video displays of consumer products and familiar images such as Da Vinci’s « La Giaconda. »

Curator’s Note

In the sonic embrace of a DJ-remixed-version of EDM on the Huangpu River, this short film gracefully presents an evening in 2000s Shanghai.  With piano melodies and LED subtitles projecting serenity, the illusion of visual style shifts captivates despite a stable lens.  Chantal’s self-narrative documentary style unveils the Huangpu River two decades past.  Her aim to articulate the daily life like stories on the street comes to life, orchestrating chaos through diverse worlds.  The linguistic twist in “Shanghai” to “Shangai” adds further fun since “h” hasn’t been pronounced.

This film illustrates a bygone Shanghai night, a curated glimpse into a mesmerizing era and locale in a succinct cinematic canvas.(Yuqi Zhou).

Stills: collections CINEMATEK - © Fondation Chantal Akerman 

Director’s bio

Born in Brussels in 1950. Directed her first short film in 1968, film in which she was the only actor and which already looked forward to the director’s unusual vision of our daily environment, with its blend of black humor, fantasy and insolence. Directed her first feature in New York in 1972, but it was with « Jeanne Dielman » that critics and audiences discovered her work. In her most recent work she has alternated documentaries and autobiographical fiction: « Sud » (documentary, 1999), « La Captive » (fiction, 2000), « De l’autre côté » (documentary, 2002), « Demain on déménage » (fiction, 2004) et « Là-bas » (documentary, 2006).

Director’s Note

I’d like to film as far away as possible, in Sanghai for instance, and describe, using voice-over, with an extreme precision, everything I know about my street in Paris, in the 20th District, which is quite mestizo and where Muslims and Africans constitute the majority. There’s a school, three bars, and a building recalling the Babel tower. My intention in thus to generate some disorder using the differences and similarities of those worlds.

Festival & Awards

Casts

Credits

Editing Claire Atherton