Genre: Documentary

“Every bit as important as D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille”
–Anthony Slide, Film Historian

Alice Guy-Blaché (July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968) had a profound influence on the evolution of cinema. She was a pioneer whose works stand alongside those of the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès, and Edwin S. Porter, in cinema’s rapid growth from an optical illusion to a storytelling medium to an art form.

In the early days of moviemaking, long before there was a film industry, everyone was just making it up as they went along. Because Guy-Blaché crafted stories, she shaped what it meant to be a director as the role is defined today.

Guy-Blaché was a trailblazer in every aspect of filmmaking. She used color tinting and special effects long before the recognized giants of early cinema had even begun to. She experimented with the Chronophone sound-syncing system invented by the French inventor Léon Gaumont, and directed the first film in existence to feature an all-African American cast (A Fool and His Money, 1912).

From 1896 to 1920, she wrote, directed, or produced more than 1,000 films, some 350 of which survive. This video shows some of Guy-Blaché’s work, and reiterates her vital importance to the early days of filmmaking.Alice Guy Blache was a trailblazer in filmmaking. She was a contemporary of the Lumiere Brothers in France in the late 1800s and went on to make over 1,000 commercially released films both in France and America during the next 25 years. Nonetheless, she's all been erased from the Film History books. Watch this short film to get some insight into her remarkable career and why she was a trailblazer in so many ways and why she should be both appreciated and honored by those making films today and the future.

Creative commons video featured:
'The First Woman Filmmaker'
by Catherine Stratton
[ Ссылка ]

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