The actor makes her directing debut with a raw, fascinating film about her 2008 collaboration with the British dancer

In the way that wedding rehearsals can be more emotional than the big day – all the untidy feelings that will be tucked away for the cameras still on show – this documentary from Juliette Binoche feels raw and unguarded. It goes behind the scenes of Binoche’s collaboration with British dancer Akram Khan; their dance-theatre piece, a love story entitled In-I, premiered in London to mixed reviews in 2008. Now, all these years later, Binoche makes her directing debut with a film that is essentially a study of their artistic process. And it’s unexpectedly fascinating, watching two world-famous performers pushing themselves outside their comfort zones, exposed and vulnerable – particularly Binoche, who had never danced professionally before.

In-I in Motion is a film of two halves, ending with a performance on stage in front of an audience, the set designed by artist Anish Kapoor: a vast screen in murderous red. The first half is more interesting, shot fly-on-the-wall style during the months it took to create the piece in a studio. Binoche and Khan work with acting coach Susan Batson, who at one point thunders: “THIS IS FULL OF SHIT!” (never mind La Binoche’s Oscar). For some audiences, it will have a whiff of theatrical cringe; the endless stewing and fretting over how to achieve something truthful is ripe for spoof. But the pure intensity and focus is thrilling to watch.

Akram Khan among those paying tribute to ‘pioneering’ choreographer of intense musicality and grace who inspired generations of dancers

Sir Richard Alston, the British choreographer and teacher who took contemporary dance into new directions with his elegant and intelligent creations, has died at the age of 77. A former artistic director of Rambert and the Place, where he made more than 50 pieces for the Richard Alston Dance Company, he was celebrated for lucid, emotionally attuned work that was often as graceful as it was rigorous.

His death was announced on Monday by the Richard Alston Foundation, which was established in 2021 to promote contemporary dance and preserve his work. “It is with deep sadness that we have to report the death of Sir Richard Alston,” said the statement. “After a period of ill-health, and despite exceptional treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead and the support of his closest friends, he passed away peacefully at his home on 7 September. While Richard is best known for his extraordinary career and contribution to contemporary dance, we will also remember him for his wit, warmth and generosity of spirit.”

The French actor steps into unfamiliar – and bracingly raw – territory with In-I In Motion after four decades reigning the international arthouse. You have to go out of your comfort zone, she says, ‘otherwise you become a prude’

Starring in more than 70 movies is all well and good, but Juliette Binoche can still get the jitters. Right now, the Oscar-winning actor is biting her lip on the third floor of a Manhattan high-rise. In 20 minutes, she will step into a sold-out movie theater to introduce her directorial debut at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Titled In-I In Motion, the vérité-style documentary follows Binoche’s late-2000s plunge into the world of contemporary dance for a series of daring and bewitchingly strange performances with the British dancer Akram Khan. “So,” she asks me, “how do you think I should present it?”

Which is how I find myself giving advice about public speaking to arguably the most celebrated French actor working today. She did a great job last night introducing the film at the buzzy Metrograph cinema downtown, I say. But it’s tough to know how to prepare an audience for the film’s poetic (and sometimes confusing), nonlinear narrative: maybe you just have to let them have at it. She smiles slyly. “Should I say: ‘This film isn’t going to hold your hand’?”