In the latter, maya deren is part of a feminist film canon but before its time. In the mirror of maya deren, her first international success, won the vienna film prize 2001 at the viennale in austria and dance screen award for best documentary 2002 in monaco. Maya deren and the avantgarde cinema twisted ladder movies. Maya derens last s crip t ma y a deren edited and introduced by jamie james although she never made a. Historically, deren was not always the emblem of the avant garde. Through her work with black american choreographer and haitian vodou initiate katherine dunham, avantgarde filmmaker maya deren discovered that the religions practitioners would submit themselves to loa spirits during ceremonies, thereby. While usually associated with european filmmakers, america has its own rich tradition of avantgarde and experimental filmmakers. The subject is maya deren, my favorite avantgarde filmmaker, and in particular, her two greatest masterpieces meshes in.
Influenced by jean cocteau and marcel duchamp, she is. Over the last few years several essays have been published which include a comparison of derens concept of vertical and horizontal film form with deleuzes theory of movementimage and timeimage. Maya deren and the american avantgarde by bill nichols. Maya deren 19081961 russianborn american filmmaker, dancer, film critic, and actress. The world of experimental or avantgarde vanguard cinema has a history just as rich as narrative film it could be said that the two run on parallel tracks. Maya deren charts a new course despite unkind critical reception of meshes of the afternoon and her other early work, and the challenges of navigating a maledominated field, maya deren forged a career that made her a preeminent voice of avant garde cinema. Weekly, maya deren nee eleanora derenkovskaya is arguably the most important and innovative avantgarde filmmaker in the history of american cinema. In this pamphlet maya derens approach to reflects not the limited scope of a professional craftsnan, but a broad cultural backgrounda profound interest not only in esthetics generally and in psychological insight, but in physics and the sciences as well. Deren was a pioneer in experimental cinema from the 1940s through the 1950s, one of a few women working in avant garde film, influencing. Maya deren 1977, myth and ritual in the american avant garde 1980, ruben cinematheque. She is currently working on a film about the american pioneer avant garde filmmaker and warhol superstar marie menken. An important figure in american avantgarde filmmaking of the 1940s, deren created the trend.
Accepted for publication in journal for american studies 47. In the us from the early 20s, deren was intending to write a book about dance and accompanying katherine dunham on a national tour when she met czech documentarian alexander hammid, who in 1942 became her second husband. Born eleanora derenkowsky in kiev, russia, on april 29, 1908 some sources cite 1917. Her influence, especially in independent film, has not only endured but also increased in. Traditionally the avant garde cinema is identified with the films of luis bunuel, salvador dali, and andy warhol. Very loosely defined as any film that doesnt use narrative cinematic technique to achieve its goals, the. American avant garde 1991, from the ruben collection.
Sep 25, 20 the world of experimental or avant garde vanguard cinema has a history just as rich as narrative film it could be said that the two run on parallel tracks. The subject is maya deren, my favorite avantgarde filmmaker, and in particular, her two greatest masterpieces meshes in the afternoon and at land. Maya deren and the american avantgarde edited by bill nichols. This weeks selection is a researchanalytical paper written for a seminar on cinema and the historical avant garde, in the spring of 20.
Deren was a pioneer in experimental cinema from the 1940s through the 1950s, one of a few women working in avantgarde film, influencing. Deren, maya 19081961russianborn american experimental filmmaker often cited as the creator of the first film of the american avantgarde and the choreocinema, a collaborative art between the dancer and the camera. Documentary film and the modernist avantgarde authors. Meshes of the afternoon and its critical reception in the history of the avantgarde. Deren was also a choreographer, dancer, film theorist, poet, lecturer, writer, and photographer.
For those unfamiliar with avantgarde cinema, maya deren is without question the most important and. Today the films of maya deren, as indeed deren herself, have come to embody the avant garde cinema. Maya deren conceived, directed, and played the central role in meshes of the afternoon, her first film and a work that helped chart the course for american experimental cinema. Leading american avantgarde filmmaker sometimes referred to as the mother of the underground film. Through all the trials or such shoestring production, which in. Maya deren and the american avantgarde also includes one of the most significant reflections on the nature of art and the responsibilities of the filmmaker ever writtenderens influential but long outofprint book, an anagram of. While usually associated with european filmmakers, america has its own rich tradition of avant garde and experimental filmmakers.
Regarded as one of the founders of the postwar american independent cinema, maya deren was a poet, photographer, ethnographer and filmaker. The nine chapters of deren s anagram are readable in two different sequences, shown upon a twodimensional grid. Project muse maya deren and the american avantgarde. Many experimental films, particularly early ones, relate to arts in other disciplines.
Very loosely defined as any film that doesnt use narrative cinematic technique to. Maya deren and the american avantgarde book, 2001 worldcat. On the eve of the future collects more than thirty years worth of those essays, focusing on her most relevant engagements with avantgarde production in experimental cinema, particularly with the movement known as american independent cinema. Maya deren went on by herself conceiving, producing, directing, acting, being unable to afford actors photographing when she was not in the scene and cutting. Maya deren and the american avant garde borrows this anagramatic perhaps, more accurately, acrostic form in its title page to order its essays in two separate sequences as well. American avantgarde 1991, from the ruben collection. Documentary film and the modernist avantgarde bill nichols overture how is it that the most formal and, often, the most abstract of films and. The contributors to this volume have addressed a wide range of topics, from innovative readings of some of deren s classic films to alternative perspectives and frameworks within which to understand deren s his. Buy maya deren and the american avant garde first edition, includes the complete text of an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film ed.
Maya deren, influential director and performer who is often called the mother of american avantgarde filmmaking. Deren was a pioneer in experi mental cinema from the 1940s through the 1950s, one of a few women working in avantgarde film, influencing future generations. Regarded as one of the founders of the postwar american. Yet she was also a prolific writer of the theory of cinema, as well as an advocate for new modes of distribution and exhibition to counter the hollywood industry. Nekola, on not being maya deren wide angle, 18, october, 1996.
An important figure in american avantgarde filmmaking of the 1940s, deren created the trend towards and the marketplace for avantgarde. Meshes of the afternoon 1943 1971 as womens discourse, university of illinois press, 2003, p 57 29 this is an idea of derens as seen in the john pruitt text pruitt. It was shot without dialogue or sound a soundtrack by composer teiji ito was added later, in 1959 and in black and white. It furthers the universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by. An important figure in american avantgarde filmmaking of the forties, deren created the trend and the. Maya deren and the american avant garde also includes one of the most significant reflections on the nature of art and the responsibilities of the filmmaker ever written deren s influential but long outofprint book, an anagram of ideas on art, form and film, in its entirety. Aug 04, 2002 the nine chapters of deren s anagram are readable in two different sequences, shown upon a twodimensional grid. It is a film that deconstructs narrative conventions, experiments with filmic techniques, and externalizes subjective experience. Maya deren american director and actress britannica. Dec 12, 2003 maya derens at land 1944 is unquestionably an avantgarde film.
University of california press, 2001, 14, maria pramaggiore, performance and persona in the u. Maya deren and the american avantgarde, screen, volume 43, issue 4, 1 december 2002, pages 438441. In addition to her films, that work includes her writings, lectures, workshops, ethnographic research, and energetic promotion of her own and other films that met her requirements for film as an art form. Maya deren maya deren 19171961 wore many hats in her brief lifetime. Her influence, especially in independent film, has not only endured but also increased in the decades following her death. The nine chapters of derens anagram are readable in two different sequences, shown upon a twodimensional grid. The text of maya deren s an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film is included in the appendix. Maya deren and the american avantgarde also includes one of the most significant reflections on the nature of art and the responsibilities of the filmmaker ever writtenderens influential but long outofprint book, an anagram of ideas on art, form and film, in its entirety. Oxford university press is a department of the university of oxford. Nov 19, 2003 maya deren and the avant garde cinema. Maya deren great director profile senses of cinema. An important figure in american avantgarde filmmaking of.
Historically, deren was not always the emblem of the avantgarde. His edited volume maya deren and the american avantgarde and a book, introduction to documentary, are scheduled for fall. Essays and criticism on maya deren critical essays. Maya deren by sarah keller overdrive rakuten overdrive. She is currently working on a film about the american pioneer avantgarde filmmaker and warhol superstar marie menken. Buy maya deren and the american avantgarde first edition, includes the complete text of an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film ed. Maya deren and the american avantgarde borrows this anagramatic perhaps, more accurately, acrostic form in its title page to order its essays in two separate sequences as well. Although widely recognized and even lauded as an avant garde film maker, deren is really something more. The text of maya derens an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film is included in the appendix. The rewards offered by in the mirror of maya deren will differ depending on the viewers familiarity with maya derens life and work.
Maya deren 1977, myth and ritual in the american avantgarde 1980, ruben cinematheque. This volume includes the first critical essay on marcel duchamps film anemic cinema, the first. Maya deren april 29, 1917 october, 1961, born eleonora derenkowska ukrainian. Maya deren 19171961 was a russianborn american filmmaker, theorist, poet, and photographer working at the forefront of the american avantgarde in the 1940s and 1950s. Traditionally the avantgarde cinema is identified with the films of luis bunuel, salvador dali, and andy warhol. The text of maya deren s an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film is included in the appendix some contributions are rev. Maya deren created what is perhaps the most famous american avant garde film, meshes of the afternoon, and is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of the avant garde movement. The collected shorts of maya deren the mother of the trance film who worked completely outside the commercial film industry and made her own inner experience the center of her films. While limited to the technology of her time, and less concerned with the juxtaposition of flat images as with man ray, but the exploration of the human form in gender, movement, juxtaposed against a world of images and, at times, and underlying narrative or critical argument. Experimental film, experimental cinema or avantgarde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously reevaluates cinematic conventions and explores nonnarrative forms and alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. From the early 1940s until her death in 1961, maya deren evoked and exemplified the american avantgarde movement virtually by herself. Pdf divine horsemen download full pdf book download. It furthers the universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
American experimental films 2000 holdings 6 films escaping from increasing antisemitism in the ukraine, maya deren born eleanora derenkowsky and her family immigrated to syracuse, new york, in 1922. Leading american avant garde filmmaker sometimes referred to as the mother of the underground film. Here maya deren is an icon, a model, an inspiration. I heard a film maker once call maya deren the fairy godmother of experimental film.
Today the films of maya deren, as indeed deren herself, have come to embody the avantgarde cinema. Using locations from the hollywood hills to haiti, deren made such mesmerizing films as atland, ritualin transfigured time, and her masterpiece, meshes of the. Herself keenly engaged with writing and literature as art forms, maya deren contributes to our understanding of film as a highly specific medium in prose that is often close to poetic in its grace and precision. His edited volume maya deren and the american avant garde and a book, introduction to documentary, are scheduled for fall 2001 release.
Maya deren 19171961 was a russianborn american filmmaker, theorist, poet, and photographer working at the forefront of the american avant garde in the 1940s and 1950s. Her films are not only poetic but instructive, offering insight into the human body and pysche and demonstrating the potential of film to. Maya deren created what is perhaps the most famous american avantgarde film, meshes of the afternoon, and is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of the avantgarde movement. In the former, maya deren is an artist and the origin of an american mainly male avant garde film practice. Yet, many avantgarde films share a principal often described as antinarrative. Includes the complete text of an anagram of ideas on art, form, and film paperback common on.
Maya deren 19171961 was a russianborn american filmmaker, theorist, poet, and photographer working at the forefront of the. Modernist poetics and experimental film practice of maya. Professional, american avantgarde filmmaker maya deren underscores the latin roots of the term amateur and thereby, its designation of one who engages in a practice for the love of the thing rather than for economic reasons or necessity. Her films are not only poetic but instructive, offering insight into the human body and pysche and demonstrating the potential of film to explore these subjects. Maya deren and the american avantgarde also includes one of the most significant reflections on the nature of art and the responsibilities of the filmmaker ever. Maya deren and the american avantgarde also includes one of the most significant reflections on the nature of art and the responsibilities of the filmmaker ever written deren s influential but long outofprint book, an anagram of ideas on art, form and film, in its entirety. Meshes of the afternoon and its critical reception in the history of the avantgarde primary tabs. Russianborn, daughter of a psychiatrist, maya deren. Maya deren and the american avantgarde 9780520227323. The rewards offered by in the mirror of maya deren will differ depending on the viewers familiarity with maya deren s life and work.