The first woman Director

As I was reading The World of Cinema book I came across some information, which I wanted to investigate further in depth. It concerns the world’s first woman director, Alice Guy-Blanché. Alice was a young girl who moved to Paris from Chile. Her father a Parisian businessman died when she was very young. She went on to work as a shorthand typist so she could support herself. Through her mother’s charities she met Léon Gaumont, a man who was expanding his marketing of film projects into a full film service. Alice worked as his secretary for a while. (McKernan) She observed the strong team of cameramen and filmmakers. She married a cameraman and she went with him when he was sent to manage the Gaumont office in New York in 1907. (McKernan) In 1910, after she’d given birth to her daughter, she founded her own production company, Solax. She directed several films from 1914-1917. She and her husband divorced in 1922 and she moved to France but was unable to find any further film work there so she wrote children’s books instead. She was almost forgotten until in 1953 the French Government awarded her the Legion d’Honneur. She returned to the United States in 1964 to live with one of her daughters. She died in a nursing home in New Jersey. Now her popularity is continuing to grow, as more and more people get interested in women filmmakers. And her importance as the first women filmmaker is phenomenal. (McKernan)

I thought this to be very empowering to women because it tells a story how a woman went against the odds in 1914 and worked in a man’s role in a day and age when men still vastly “ruled” the world. I also liked her courage to divorce her husband and move back to where she came from, living on her own. She was a very independent lady whose example as a filmmaker is a great one. Especaially considering she was the first woman director. Here’s a nice website about her and some of her projects I believe. http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2009/03/eric-s-blog/alice-guy-blach-first-female-of-film-direction.html

McKernan, Luke. "Who's Who of Victorian Cinema." 4 Sep 2009 .