At the Berlinale, in a room packed with admirers, Siri Hustvedt did something that perhaps her most rigorous critics didn’t expect: she laughed. It was a sound of genuine, unrestrained warmth—a charismatic release that mirrored the spirit of the recent documentary capturing her life and work. This cinema portrait of Siri Hustvedt, titled Dance Around The Self, does more than chronicle a literary career; it maps the geography of a profound partnership and the devastating silence that follows its end.
The film, a high-stakes exploration of memory and visibility, has already garnered significant critical attention. Since March 31, the production has been nominated for a Lola at the German Film Award for best documentary, signaling its importance not just as a biography, but as a piece of cinematic art. Directed by Sabine Lidl, the film navigates the delicate balance between Hustvedt’s public persona as a towering figure in US contemporary literature and her private existence as a wife, sister and daughter.
For those who know Hustvedt through her award-winning essays and novels, such as The Shaking Woman or The Invisible Woman, the film offers a rare glimpse into the tactile process of her creativity. It captures her in the sanctuary of a light-filled study, alternating between the solitude of writing and the intellectual electricity of her conversations with her late husband, the legendary novelist Paul Auster.
Beyond the Page: The Art of Visibility
One of the most striking elements of Dance Around The Self is its refusal to stick solely to the spoken word. Lidl integrates Hustvedt’s early drawings into the narrative, transforming them into animated sequences. A long-legged comic woman dances across the screen, providing a whimsical counterpoint to the film’s more cerebral themes. For Hustvedt, who turned 71 in February, the inclusion of these images was a moment of belated recognition.
“Never has anyone from the press in their reviews appreciated or even noticed my own drawings. Finally, my pictures are coming into their own! Thank you, dear Sabine!”
This focus on visibility is central to the film’s thesis. It traces Hustvedt’s trajectory from her childhood as the daughter of Norwegian migrants in the quiet landscapes of Minnesota to the frantic, intellectual heartbeat of New York City. By blending archival family photos with contemporary footage, the film examines how a woman carves out a space for herself in a literary world often dominated by the shadows of great men.
A Love Story Interrupted by Loss
The emotional core of the documentary is the relationship between Hustvedt and Paul Auster. The two were not just spouses but intellectual equals, a legendary literary couple of Brooklyn. The intimacy captured on screen is a result of a serendipitous beginning; director Sabine Lidl first met the couple in their New York kitchen, arranged through a simple phone call. Lidl recalls that Auster was perhaps the last person in New York who still listed his number in the phone book, allowing for a level of spontaneity that has largely vanished from the modern era.
However, the film’s narrative takes a tragic turn. During the years of filming, Paul Auster became seriously ill and passed away in 2024. The documentary does not shy away from this loss; instead, it documents the raw, unfolding process of grief. It shows Hustvedt navigating the void left by her “life partner,” turning to the only tool she has ever mastered: writing.
This period of mourning culminated in her latest work, Ghost Stories: A Book of Memory, released on March 13. The book serves as a literary farewell to Auster, a project that the film captures in real-time. Viewers see the agonizing process of composition—the stories she chose to keep and the memories she felt she had to strike out to maintain the integrity of her grief.
The Architecture of the Film
The 115-minute production is a complex collaborative effort, co-produced with the support of the Nordmedia Filmförderung Niedersachsen and the Medea Film Factory in Hannover. Its breadth is reflected in its cast of contributors, featuring appearances by the couple’s daughter, Sophie Auster, and the renowned filmmaker Wim Wenders.
The film’s structure reflects the fragmented nature of memory itself, moving between Brooklyn, Minnesota, and Oslo. It is a study in contrasts: the stillness of the writing room versus the vibrancy of the Berlinale; the intellectual rigor of Hustvedt’s essays versus the vulnerability of her widowhood.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 115 Minutes |
| Director | Sabine Lidl |
| Key Accolades | Nominated for the Lola (Best Documentary) |
| Primary Themes | Memory, Female Visibility, Grief |
this cinema portrait of Siri Hustvedt succeeds given that it does not attempt to summarize a life, but rather to capture a state of being. It presents a woman who is simultaneously a world-renowned intellectual and a grieving partner, reminding the audience that the most profound stories are often those found in the margins—the drawings in the sketchbook, the phone calls in the kitchen, and the ghosts that linger in the writing room.
Siri Hustvedt is currently on a reading tour for Ghost Stories, continuing to engage with audiences as she processes the legacy of her partnership with Auster. The film’s journey toward the German Film Awards in the coming months will likely further cement its place as a vital document of contemporary literary life.
Do you believe the most intimate portraits are those that capture loss in real-time? Share your thoughts on “Dance Around The Self” and Siri Hustvedt’s work in the comments below.
