He is the first feature director in the history of cinema and his works are extremely rare.

A pioneer among pioneers, Alice Guy (Alice Guy-Blachet after her marriage in 1907) is the first feature director in film history. The dual theatrical release puts him back in the limelight and is a rare opportunity to see his films on the big screen. A selection of her works, including the famous La Fée aux choux, are collected under the program called Alice Guy, the first female director!

Another film in the news: the release of the documentary Be natural, Pamela B. The Secret History of Greene’s Alice Guy-Blachet, originally released in 2020. The documentary takes the form of an investigation that aims to (re)know the filmmaker and his work around the world.

A journey that will take him to the United States

Léon Gaumont’s first secretary, he was quickly put in charge of a department specializing in the production of animated scenes for fiction, and then in the early 1900s produced more than a hundred phonoscenes, the first motion pictures synchronized to phonographic recordings.

After her marriage, she was sent by Gaumont to the United States to promote the chronophone, and in 1910, during her American tenure, she became the first woman to set up a production company, the Solax Film Co. In 1912, he and his wife built it. Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey and, before Hollywood even existed, Solax became one of the largest American production houses. After the divorce, he had to sell the studio and decided to return to Europe. Neither Léon Gaumont nor anyone in the world of cinematography gives him the pleasure he deserves, and no one wants to give him his work: he will never film again.

A work that includes about a hundred films

There are hundreds of Alice Guy films, and all of them are phenomenally rich: she addresses social themes dear to her, for example, breaking clichés about female desire. All of them show insane ingenuity and outstanding qualities in the directing cast. Decades later, however, some history books summarize his career in one line or, sometimes, don’t mention his existence at all.

“That it has been erased from the history books is more or less true, and this has happened on several levels and in different eras.Véronique Le Bris told us (in an article originally published in 2020, written with Léa Bodin), journalist, author of 50 femmes de cinéma and creator of the Alice Guy Prize, which annually honors the best French speakers. A film directed or co-directed by a woman. Alice Guy had everything against her, and not just the woman. Leon Gaumont, when he returned from the United States, was not very elegant. Then Henri Langlois, who could change the situation, was not seduced by his films, perhaps because they were Consequences of feminismToo critical to please male commentators. Historian Georges Sadoul, who did not like it, made a big contribution to erasing his name, and then he is mentioned by all historians. Finally, the memory of the Lumiere brothers is very strong in France, and to talk too much about Alice Guy would certainly diminish the power of their legend.“

As she got older, Alice Guy became very attached to the idea of ​​writing a memoir. (Recently reissued In the Gallimard fantasy collectionLa Féé-cinéma, ed.). It’s as if during his lifetime he already knew that people were trying to diminish his importance in the history of cinema. He knew this all his life, he started writing memoirs during the Second World War– says Véronique Le Brice.At that time he was already 70 years old. It was at this point that he wanted to rediscover his films. When he finished writing his autobiography, he knew that he would not find a publisher before his death, and that he would only manage to find three films in the end.“

“He was a pioneer, he was very powerful at the time, so it seems necessary that he be remembered, and the quality of his films, which deal with very strong social issues that we rarely see in cinema, is undeniable.“

program Alice Guy, the first female director! There are endings for 14 short films made by Alice Guy, attributed to Alice Guy Gaumont between 1900 and 1907, as well as a small anonymous stencil at the end of Bonsoir:

– Faust and Mephistopheles (1903): Doctor Faustus works in his laboratory and summons the temptress…

– Alcohol mattress (1906): which walks alone, as if by magic, on the fortifications.

– La Marâtre (1906): or the misfortune of the most beloved boy.

– Nonsensical Questions (1906): song performed by Félix Maiol, taken from the Gaumont clip catalogue, here with colored stencils.

– The Gamekeeper’s Son (1906): Bucolic family drama.

– Fin de siècle surgery (1900): a very burlesque and dirty operation.

– Cabbage Fairy (1900): considered the first feature film with a screenplay.

– At the Barricade (1907): A heroic episode of the Commune, loosely adapted from Victor Hugo.

Winter: Snow Dance (1900): A graceful dancer personifies the season.

– Bedtime of a Parisian (1900): a naively lively scene where a young woman goes to sleep.

– The Learned Dogs (1902): Admirably led by their beloved trainer, Miss Dundee.

– A Dog Playing Ball (1905): A circus act in a painted setting.

– Mechanical Hat Making and Beetroot (1900): where we discover an extraordinary machine that makes sausages and spits out the top hats.

– To the photographer (1900): A capricious customer comes to take his portrait.

– Good Evening (1910): The Last Greeting of the Multicolored Fairy.

This program is currently showing.