Claire Atherton is a film editor born in 1963 in San Francisco. Attracted by Taoist philosophy and visual ideograms, she turned to studies of Chinese language and civilization, then she enrolled in the professional branch of the Ecole Louis Lumière in Paris. She was interested in sound and she also worked as a cinematographer. But it’s in the editing that she found her way. She met Chantal Akerman on a shooting in 1984. Two years later, she edited Letters Home, a little-known film with Delphine and Coralie Seyrig. This work revealed considerable complicity and a shared sensibility with Akerman that have increased with time through documentaries, fiction films and installations. Atherton and Akerman worked together for more than 30 years, until Akerman’s last film No Home Movie and last installation Now. Moreover, Atherton works as editor with a wide range of filmmakers and artists. She has been collaborating for several years with Eric Baudelaire on his films and installations. In 2019, she received the Vision Award Ticinomoda from the Locarno International Film Festival for the body of her work.

Photo: Sabine Cattaneo