BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian film director Chantal Akerman, a champion of feminism during the heady days of French filmmaking in the 1970s and beyond, has died. She was 65.

Artemis Productions in Brussels, which worked with Akerman, confirmed her death on Tuesday but release no other details.

The minister responsible for francophone culture, Joelle Milquet, lauded "her abundant output which covered documentaries and fiction, often experimental and without concessions, which will have its place in world cinema."

Akerman started producing as a teenager after she was inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, a star of the French New Wave cinema. She gained critical acclaim with "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles," and will be remembered as a major art house figure and a pioneering experimental filmmaker.