Seductive, fearless and outrageous, Marina Abramovic has been redefining what art is for nearly 40 years. Using her own body as a vehicle, she creates performances that challenge and shock. Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present follows her as she prepares for what may be the most important moment of her life: a major new retrospective of her work, taking place at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. For Marina, this is a chance to finally silence the question she has been hearing over and over again for four decades: “But why is this art?”

In the countdown to the MoMA opening, director Matthew Akers, who spent a year with Abramovic, interviews her about her background and documents her intense artistic and personal collaboration with her partner of 12 years, Ulay. He also films the recruitment of young performance artists who will re-stage her work at MoMa, and a workshop she gives in her Hudson Valley studio, and observes what she describes as “the administration of being an artist”.

But it is the final act, documenting the extraordinary New York show, which is the most revealing. As eager attendees queue for a chance to take part in this extraordinary event, emotions run high and there are tears from both Marina and her audience.