Extraordinary Women: The Filmmaking Pioneer
An Afternoon with Alice Guy-Blaché Sunday March 11, 2018, 4 p.m., Revue Cinema
Tickets: $13 in advance on Eventbrite; At the door: $15 general, $13 seniors, students, Revue members.
After learning typing and shorthand, Alice Guy-Blaché secured a job as secretary in the 1890s at Gaumont, a French company that made camera equipment. That position put her in the middle of a revolution — the development of motion pictures.
In 1895, she saw the Lumière brothers’ demonstration of their new film technology, and came up with the idea of telling stories with the new medium. She wrote and directed what is believed to be the first narrative moving picture in 1896.
Over her working career, she made more than 1,000 films, in which she worked to achieve a natural style of acting. One of her notable productions was the 1906 big-budget The Life of Christ, with over 300 extras. After a move with her husband to the U.S. to operate Gaumont’s American division, She was to run her own production facility.
As Shirley Hartt, who runs the Toronto Silent Film Festival, observes: “Alice was an extraordinary force in early film.”
She wasn’t the only woman filmmaker pioneer. There were more women working at all levels in the movie business in the early years than at any other time. Check out this 2016 article in the Guardian and the Women Film Pioneers website.
Our Expert:
Prof. Charlie Keil
We’re thrilled to welcome Innis College Principal and early cinema expert Charlie Keil, who will introduce our documentary and take part in a post-screening discussion and Q&A. (Charlie is an engaging lecturer who consistently earns an “awesome” rating from his students!). He teaches the Introduction to Film Study at U of T, as well as courses investigating different aspects of American cinema, from filmmaking practices to distinct genres.
About the Film:
The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché, 1995, 53 min. NFB. Directed by Marquise Lepage. Guy-Blaché’s story is told through interviews with relatives and experts, recordings of Guy-Blaché from the 1960s, photographs and clips from her films.