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alice guy blache

Spotlight 

SPOTLGHT March 2021: Alice Guy-Blaché, Pioneering Filmmaker, Studio Founder and Iconic Cinema Influencer

Jennifer Merin , , , , ,

Women’s History Month is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on Alice Guy-Blaché, the French pioneer filmmaker whose work introduced narrative fiction films to early cinema. She is credited for being first woman to direct a film. And, from 1896 to 1906, while she was most likely the only female filmmaker at work worldwide, she most certainly pushed the envelope on cinema aesthetics, technology and social relevance by working with color tinting and special effects, utilizing Gaumont’s Chronophone sync-sound system, casting women as leading characters and casting interracially.

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Interviews 

Pamela B. Green on BE NATURAL and Alice Guy Blache’s Untold Story – Marilyn Ferdinand interviews

Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments , , ,

What would induce a woman with a successful entertainment and motion graphic design business to put it all on the back burner and become, in her words, “an official poor documentarian?” For Pamela B. Green, who produced titles and graphics for major motion pictures and the Academy Awards, it was a television show that included some information about a woman who would come to dominate her life for more than a decade—Alice Guy-Blaché.

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Reviews 

BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHE – Review by MaryAnn Johanson

MaryAnn Johanson 0 Comments ,

This is what feminism often means, unfortunately: rediscovering — over and over again — the achievements of the women who blazed trails before us who have been erased in the annals written in their wake. And so it is with Alice Guy-Blaché, who isn’t just an innovator and trailblazer among women filmmakers but of cinema on the whole.

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Movie of the Week Reviews 

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 19, 2019: BE NATURAL – THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY BLACHE

Jennifer Merin 0 Comments , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

motw logo 1-35Briskly paced and packed with fascinating information about one of film’s true pioneers, Pamela B. Green‘s Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache is a crash course in film history — or, more accurately, film herstory. Because, as it turns out, the roots of cinematic storytelling are as feminine as they can be.

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Movie of the Week Reviews 

MOVIE OF THE WEEK November 23, 2018: PIONEERS: FIRST WOMEN FILMMAKERS

Jennifer Merin 0 Comments , , , , , , , , , ,

motw logo 1-35The invaluable film distributor Kino Lorber has assembled a truly eye-opening collection of films from the silent era—all made by women. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is a DVD/Blu-ray box set that presents more than 50 silent feature and short films digitally mastered from 2k and 4K restorations from a variety of sources. The six disc set is divided by subject matter. Disc one is devoted to the works of Alice Guy-Blaché. All together, the set is essential viewing.

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DVDs Reviews 

PIONEERS: FIRST WOMEN FILMMAKERS – Review by Marilyn Ferdinand

Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments , , , , , , , ,

The invaluable film distributor Kino Lorber has assembled a truly eye-opening collection of films from the silent era—all made by women. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is a DVD/Blu-ray box set that presents more than 50 silent feature and short films digitally mastered from 2k and 4K restorations from a variety of sources. The six disc set is divided by subject matter. Disc one is entirely devoted to the works of perhaps the most important woman filmmaker ever, Alice Guy-Blaché.

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Reviews 

PIONEERS: FIRST WOMEN FILMMAKERS – Review by Loren King

Loren King 0 Comments , , , , , ,

There are many reasons to love Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, the six-DVD set from Kino Lorber. This collection of films by women directors with a focus on American films from 1911-1929 is nothing short of amazing. These sophisticated silent films span all genres — drama, comedy, action, romance — and are themselves a revelation for their style and innovation. But producer Bret Wood has also included several short documentaries that feature a stellar cast of film experts, mostly women, who shed light on the films’ importance to cinema and to American culture.

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Reviews 

PIONEERS: FIRST WOMEN FILMMAKERS – Review by Cate Marquis

Cate Marquis 0 Comments , , , , ,

Women filmmakers are getting a lot of attention now but many don’t know that women directors were among cinema’s first, and the best. Now we get a chance to explore that forgotten history, as Kino Lorber is offering Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, a six-disc box set of some of the best films by women directors in cinema’s early decades.

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