My youth, my experience, my sex, all conspired against me
Alice Guy-Blaché
Alice Guy-Blaché is the first of either sex to direct a fictional film. During her lifetime, she wrote directed and produced from 1896 to 1920 over 1000 films. Beginning her film work as a secretary for the motion-picture camera manufacturer Gaumont in Paris, she asked to create a film for demonstration purposes. She made “The Cabbage Fairy” in 1896 and became head of film production. She was the first to use close-ups, hand tinted film, and synchronized sound. Guy-Blaché believed in storytelling and was the first filmmaker to include narrative in her films. She founded Solax, the largest pre-Hollywood studio in America in 1912.
Her company was extremely successful for a time, but as major motion pictures became heavily male-dominated, Guy-Blaché’s accomplishments fell into the shadows. Only recently have her achievements been rediscovered.
Born 1873, France; Died 1968, USA
Selected resources
- “The Memoirs of Alice Guy-Blaché”, Edited by Roberta Blaché, 1996
- “Be Natural: The Untold Story Of Alice Guy-Blaché”, Directed and Produced by Pamela Green, 2019
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/obituaries/alice-guy-blache-overlooked.html