Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female movie director and studio-owner, made her first film in 1896 at the age of 23. She went on to write, direct or produce more than 1,000 films. She was the first director to implement certain cinematic techniques during the artform’s inception, such as the use of the closeup and directing actors to “Be natural.” She could be considered the first director (male or female), because she was the first to give direction to actors and to separate her role from the cameraman. Surprisingly, this pioneer of cinema was largely forgotten for decades.
Three short silent films representative of the first director’s work will be presented at 1 o’clock on Sunday, December 11 at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, together with original compositions by Tamar Muskal: A House Divided, Fool and His Money and Falling Leaves.
Part of the presentation will be a question-and-answer session with producer and director Pamela Green, who is making a full-length feature documentary film about Alice Guy-Blaché. (The Q&A will be Skyped in live from Los Angleles.) Green has secured support for the restoration of films by Alice Guy-Blaché. Audience members will have the opportunity to view sneak peeks of Green’s documentary.
Upstate Films is located at 6415 Montgomery Street in Rhinebeck. For more info, call (845) 876-2515 or visit https://upstatefilms.org.
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