Chantal Akerman’s feature debut, made when she was just 24, is a potent and radical portrait of the search for connection, culminating in a famous 10-minute lesbian sex scene.
The year before she created her masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), voted the greatest film of all time in the 2022 Sight & Sound poll, Chantal Akerman made this assured and radical movie. She plays a woman whom we first meet alone in her apartment. Later, she hitchhikes and has a sexual encounter with a male truck driver. Finally, she reconnects with an ex-lover (Claire Wauthion), leading to a lengthy sex scene – an extraordinarily intimate depiction of same sex love for the time when it was made.
Je Tu Il Elle breaks many of the rules of cinema in its representation of alienation. It's a key work in Akerman’s extraordinary filmography and still startles with its frankness and uncompromising portrayal of female sexuality.
In French with English subtitles
The screening on 24 Jun includes an introduction by Mekella Broomberg.
Mekella Broomberg is a Creative Producer, maker of festivals and Humanist Celebrant. She has written, performed and produced in the worlds of literature, puppetry, circus and film. She is the Head of Programme at the Royal Society of Literature.
Release year: 1974
Country: Belgium, France
Director: Chantal Akerman
Runtime: 1 hour 26 min
Ticket prices
Students £11
Unwaged £11
Over 60s £11
Under 18s £6
Wheelchair spaces, free companion seats may now be booked online.
Please select the relevant preferences on the access registration page during your booking, so we can provide you with the correct information and discounts.
Booking a wheelchair space
Select a seat displaying the wheelchair user icon and then select 'wheelchair user' ticket type. The ticket will be priced at the lowest price for that event. If you need an essential companion, please select the E icon next to the wheelchair space you have selected.
Booking essential companion tickets
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Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
'In her outrageously accomplished and inventive first feature, Akerman fuses the experiments she’d seen in New York with the sexy cool of the French New Wave. Moreover, she gives viewers and filmmakers alike permission to be the heroines of our own stories: appetitive, desiring, lovelorn, naked, mobile, ecstatic'
So Mayer, The F Word
Queer 70s
Cinema 2
Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you across the road to the venue.
Address
Beech Street
London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
We’ve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus
Access
Cinemas 2 & 3 are located at Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican Centre’s main Silk Street entrance. There are a couple of steep, dropped kerbs and an incline to negotiate between the two sites. Level access from Beech Street.
Mobility
Each auditorium has three permanent wheelchair spaces (two in the third row and one in the front row) and 153 fixed seats with capacity for a further three spaces in the front row. Access to each auditorium is up a ramp. There are also a number of seats with step-free access.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the cinema – please tell us when booking to ensure your seat has enough space. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the foyer staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
An infrared system for hard of hearing customers is provided in each auditorium; headsets or neck loops can be collected from foyer staff. The ticket desk counter is fitted with an induction loop.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
