“It's among Ms. Akerman's greatest films. A travelogue across the once-restricted post-Communist territory of Eastern Europe and Russia, it is a series of microdramas with the simplicity and freshness of the Lumière brothers' earliest one-shot motion pictures.” - J. Hoberman, The New York Times
“Maybe this is just another of Akerman's talents--the ability to compartmentalize the world into images both haunting and touching in equal measure.” - Beth Capper, CINE-FILE
From phantasmagoria to document: after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman made a voiceover-free travelogue of her journey across what used to be called “the Iron Curtain.” The power of FROM THE EAST is caught between lateral train motion—one of the first experiences ever conveyed by the cinema—and the faces of individuals whose world has disappeared, replaced by something far less certain.
Awards & Nominations
1993 Toronto International Film Festival – Official Selection
1993 Locarno International Film Festival – Official Selection
1994 Berlin International Film Festival – Official Selection
Contact Zones: Cinema of Globalization, 1989–2024
Fall 2026 Lecture Series
“We might have come to the end of something,” Adam Curtis reflected recently, referring to "globalization," which began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But just how well do we know this world that we were, until recently, living in? Brief lectures before screenings and open discussions afterwards will cover background on local histories related to films in the series as well as theories of globalization, neoliberalism, migration, and digital culture. Presented in collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism. Lecturer: Professor Daniel R. Quiles. Select titles offered with Sunday encores; encores do not include lecture.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu