Alice Guy-Blaché was a pioneer filmmaker, not just in France, but all over the world. She produced, directed, wrote, and 
starred in many of her own films; among other titles. She was the first woman filmmaker and is often forgotten among the histories of film. Her life should be remembered as well as her many films because the film world needs more woman directors.
Alice was born July 1, 1873 and died March 24, 1968 in France. She worked on her first film in 1896 and then went on to direct and produce more than six hundred silent films that “range from one minute to thirty minutes” (McMahan). She is known mostly for her Gaumont Chronophone films which are full of energy and risks and use real locations which was very new during this time (McMahan).
Alice Guy-Blaché is often forgotten when it comes to film because no one really knows about her. Why is that? Firstly, most of her work is lost. Second, the man she married Herbert Blaché, left her and the children they had to California for the big boom in the film industry. They divorced, and she hardly got any recognition for her work that she was previously working on with her former husband and the work on the “first histories of the film industry – even of the Gaumont Studio – were being written without mentioning her” (Debenedette).
Her films include, but are not limited to, Vie du Christ (1906), The Cabbage Fairy (1896), Ballet Libella (1897), Falling Leaves (1912), and many, many more (Kenji). “She made hundreds of movies from 1896 or so until 1920. She worked with special effects, filmed on location, and shot movies that had synchronized audio recordings” (Debenette). It’s important to note that she even owned and operate her very own film studio.
When she married Herbert, they were both part of the Gaumont company, but since film was moving towards the west, Herbert was sent to the U.S. to promote it. They went together even though she had resigned soon after they married, and this is where she “set up her own film studio based in Flushing, Queens: the Solax Company” (Debenedette). The company was becoming so successful that she made a production studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey; this is where the films were filmed before Hollywood moved west (Debenedette).
Additionally, Herbert had set up his own studio and named Alice has the vice president. Unfortunate, the marriage was not lasting and was weakening. They soon divorced in 1918 and Herbert left her and their children. Soon, her studio went bankrupt (Debenedette).
Soon after this, she moved back to France, found out that she was not getting credit for her work, started doing public talks and wrote her memoirs, but wasn’t getting any credit still. She decided to move back to the U.S. to live with her daughter, then died at 94 in New Jersey.
To summarize, Alice Guy-Blaché deserves all the credit that she has missed out on. It is only now in the last couple of years that people have been giving her the recognition that she has always been with, but never received in her lifetime. She was a pioneer for film makers all around the world, not just in France, and continues to be remarked as so.
References
Debenedette, Valerie. “Alice Guy-Blaché, Forgotten Film Pioneer.” Retrobituaries: Alice Guy-Blaché, Forgotten Film Pioneer | Mental Floss, 17 Aug. 2016, http://mentalfloss.com/article/84684/retrobituaries-alice-guy-blache-forgotten-film-pioneer
Kenji. “ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ, QUEEN OF THE PIONEERS – Movie List.” MUBI, mubi.com/lists/alice-guy-blache-queen-of-the-pioneers.
McMahan, Alison. “Alice Guy Blaché.” In Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds. Women Film Pioneers Project. Center for Digital Research and Scholarship. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2013. Web. September 27, 2013. https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-alice-guy-blache/
