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DVD Underground: Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology

DVD Cover for Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology

Official Description: More women worked in film during its first two decades than at any time since. Unfortunately, many early women filmmakers have been largely written out of film history, their contributions undervalued. This necessary and timely collection highlights the work of 14 of early cinema’s most innovative and influential women directors, re-writing and celebrating their rightful place in film history.

International in scope, this groundbreaking collection features over 10 hours of material, comprised of 25 films spanning 1902-1943, including many rare titles not widely available until now, from shorts to feature films, live-action to animation, commercial narratives to experimental works. Directors include Alice Guy Blaché, Lois Weber, Mabel Normand, Madeline Brandeis, Germaine Dulac, Olga Preobrazhenskaia, Marie-Louise Iribe, Lotte Reiniger, Claire Parker, Mrs. Wallace Reid (Dorothy Davenport), Leni Riefenstahl, Mary Ellen Bute, Dorothy Arzner, and Maya Deren.

These women were technically and stylistically innovative, pushing the boundaries of narrative, aesthetics, and genre. Going back to the beginning of cinema, this collection makes visible the tremendous directorial contributions women made all around the world. Beautifully restored in high definition, Early Women Filmmakers features new scores by Sergei Dreznin, Frederick Hodges, Tamar Muskal, Judith Rosenberg, and Rodney Sauer and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

Distributor: Flicker Alley

Availability: Amazon

Contents:

Alice Guy Blaché (1873-1968)

Les Chiens Savants (1902)
Running time: 4:33 min

Une Histoire Roulante (1906)
Running time: 2:35 min

La Barricade (1907)
Running time: 5:36 min

Falling Leaves (1912)
Running time: 14:09 min

Making an American Citizen (1912)
Running time: 14:18 min

The Girl in the Armchair (1912)
Running time: 12:56 min

Lois Weber (1879-1939)

Suspense (1913)
Running time: 10:21 min

Discontent (1916)
Running time: 24:50 min

The Blot (1921)
Running time: 93:36 min

Mabel Normand (1892-1930)

Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914)
Running time: 11:54 min

Madeline Brandeis (1897-1937)

The Star Prince (1918)
Running time: 58:11 min

Germaine Dulac (1882-1942)

La Cigarette (1919)
Running time: 50:02 min

La Souriante Mme. Beudet (1922)
Running time: 42:39 min

Olga Preobrazhenskaia (1881-1971)

The Peasant Women of Ryazan (1927)
Running time: 88:21 min

Marie-Louise Iribe (1894-1934)

Le Roi des Aulnes (1929)
Running time: 45:09 min

Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981)

Harlequin (1931)
Running time: 24:55 min

The Stolen Heart (1934)
Running time: 10:21 min

Papageno (1935)
Running time: 10:49 min

Claire Parker (1906-1981)

A Night on Bald Mountain (1933)
Running time: 9:21 min

Mrs. Wallace Reid (Dorothy Davenport) (1895-1977)

The Woman Condemned (1934)
Running time: 64:29 min

Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003)

Day of Freedom (1935)
Running time: 16:58 min

Mary Ellen Bute (1906-1983)

Parabola (1937)
Running time: 8:28 min

Spook Sport (1939)
Running time: 7:55 min

Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979)

Dance, Girl, Dance (excerpt) (1940)
Running time: 3:53 min

Maya Deren (1917-1961)

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Running time: 13:38 min

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