Why we still need to talk about Alice Guy-Blaché, the first woman filmmaker

Before Greta Gerwig, Ava DuVernay, Patty Jenkins, Kathryn Bigelow, Nancy Meyers, and Nora Efron—heck, before most of those talented filmmakers’ mothers were even born—there was Alice Guy-Blaché. A director, producer, and screenwriter, the pioneering French native was one of the first people in the known world to look at flickering images on a screen and figure out that they could and should be used to tell stories. “She was helping from the very beginning to invent what became modern cinema,” notes actress Geena Davis, a featured player in the documentary. Guy-Blaché soon became head of production at Gaumont’s film studio. Read More…