Cecile Starr
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas films 160 underground film people over four decades.
Shot on a September afternoon, in 1971, on the lawn and inside the studio of Hans Richter's Connecticut home. The artist talks informally with Cecile Starr about his first experiences as a filmmaker, and about the interrelationship of his films and his paintings, scrolls and collages. Excerpts from Rhythm 21, Ghosts before breakfast and Race symphony help illustrate Richter's comments about how these pioneer avant-garde films were made in the years between 1921 and 1929.
