Q&A with MARINA ABRAMOVIC THE ARTIST IS PRESENT filmmaker Matthew Akers, recorded June 13, 2012 at a screening of the film at Film Forum.

Summary: Marina Abramović: seductive, controversial, fearless, outré. Her retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (March - May 2010) featured an extraordinary performance, experienced by 750,000 people, many of whom waited hours for the chance to sit silently across from her at a small table, where she remained for 7½ hours daily, without eating, drinking, or moving. The intensity of her gaze, the intimacy of the act (paradoxically in a huge, brightly lit room, filled with onlookers) moved some to tears and other acts of extreme emotion. Matthew Akers’s film records the artist as she prepares herself physically and spiritually for the ordeal -- as might be expected -- with tremendous discipline, humor and guile. With comments by MoMA curator Klaus Biesenbach, art critic Arthur Danto, gallerist Sean Kelly, and hundreds of members of the public (including James Franco) who were fortunate enough to attend this landmark event. This podcast is a recording of the Q&A with the filmmaker Matthew Akers, recorded June 13, 2012 at a screening of the film at Film Forum.