Alice Guy Blaché: Cinema Pioneer

by Joan Simon (Editor), Jane M. Gaines (Contributor), Alison McMahan (Contributor)

This book celebrates the achievements of Alice Guy Blaché  (1873–1968), the first woman motion picture director and producer. From 1896 to 1907, she created films for Gaumont in Paris. In 1907, she moved to the United States and established her own film company, Solax. From 1914 to 1920, Guy Blaché was an independent director for a number of film companies.
 
Despite her immensely productive and creative career, Guy Blaché’s indispensable contribution to film history has been overlooked. She entered the world of filmmaking at its nascent stage, when films were seen primarily as a medium in the service of science or as an adjunct to selling cameras. Working with Gaumont cameramen and cameras and the new technical advances for the projection of film, she became one of the film pioneers ushering in the new era of motion pictures as a narrative form. Written by cinema history experts and curators, this handsome volume brings to light a critical new mass of Guy Blaché’s film oeuvre in an effort to restore her to her rightful place in film history.

Genres: Film, Biography, History, Feminism

148 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good series of historical essays on Alice Guy Blache - the first filmmaker in the world. She had been basically lost to history until a rediscovery of her memoirs that led to an effort to find her films. She had a great life until she married. The essays discuss her films, how they relate to her memoirs and her positions on race, class and sexism.

[Hallie]

total chiller. also read for eflux. come to my screening lol https://www.e-flux.com/live/474179/al...

[Fi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book about Alice Guy Blache, very informative for the class I was taking at the time, and it was awesome to learn about a badass female filmmaker! I’ve been in film school and taking film history classes for four years, and I can’t believe she had never come up before.

[Sarah Nocquet · Rating 2 out of 5]

more research

[Buckey Grimm]

An outstanding collection of essays from many of the best scholars re-examining the place of Alice Guy Blache in Film History. As the first Woman Director dating back to 1896, she is noted for much more than this "first". From the writings and research of Kim Tomadjoglu, Charles Musser, Jane Gaines, Joan Simon, Alan Williams and Alison McMahan we are provided a wonderful look at the
accomplishments and the development of Ms Blache in the industry. A most interesting read indeed.