Back in March I wrote an enthusiastic post on Claire Denis’ film 35 Rhums. At that point it wasn’t clear whether or not the film would get distribution but thankfully it has and it will open in New York on September 16th at Film Forum. Hopefully it will also expand into other cities following the New York run.

And in case you were wanting to read up on Denis before seeing the film or better yet before renting some of her other films (if you don’t live in New York) the fine folks at Reverse Shot have put together a Claire Denis symposium.  Featured are wonderful pieces about all of her films including U.S. Go Home, Nénette et Boni, Beau travail and more.

There is also a wonderful intro to the work of Denis that speaks to the colonialist critique present in many of her films and how she has moved from a straightforward to a more abstract interpretation of the themes she consistently deals with.   Beyond all the writing in the symposium there is also a new video essay by Kevin Lee of Shooting Down Pictures about her film L’Intrus. Give a watch to see and feel what the work of Denis is like (but don’t be scared off, L’Intrus is definitely one of her more abstract films)