Maya Deren: The Avant-Garde Filmmaker Who Revolutionized Cinema
Maya Deren, originally named Eleanora Derenowsky, was born in 1917 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Escaping anti-Semitism, her family immigrated to the United States and adopted a new surname. Deren pursued her education at Syracuse University (1933), followed by New York University (Bachelor's, 1935), and Smith College (Master's, 1939). She embarked on her filmmaking journey after connecting with Katherine Dunham and later with Alexander Hammid. In 1943, she acquired a 16mm Bolex camera and produced Meshes of the Afternoon. Her films, including Ritual Transfigured in Time (1945) and At Land (1944), delved into psychological themes and social customs. Deren also documented Haitian vodun, leading to works like Divine Horsemen and Meringues. A writer and lecturer, she inspired filmmakers such as David Lynch.
Key facts
- Maya Deren was born Eleanora Derenowsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1917.
- She purchased a 16mm Bolex camera in 1943 and made her first film, Meshes of the Afternoon, with Alexander Hammid.
- Deren won the Grand Prix Internationale at the Cannes Film Festival in 1947 and a Guggenheim Fellowship to research Haitian vodun.
- She shot over 18,000 feet of footage in Haiti between 1947 and 1954, later edited into Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti.
- Deren was a founding member of the Creative Film Foundation in the 1950s.
- Her work inspired Amos Vogel to found Cinema 16, a New York film society.
- Deren's films often featured dance and choreography, as seen in A Study in Choreography for the Camera (1945) and The Very Eye of Night (1958).
- She published essays on film theory, including An Anagram of Ideas on Art, Form and Film.
Entities
Artists
- Maya Deren
- Eleanora Derenowsky
- Gregory Bardacke
- Katherine Dunham
- Alexander Hammid
- Rita Christiani
- Frank Westbrook
- Anaïs Nin
- Talley Beatty
- Teiji Ito
- Amos Vogel
- David Lynch
Institutions
- Syracuse University
- New York University
- Smith College
- Cannes Film Festival
- Guggenheim Foundation
- Creative Film Foundation
- Cinema 16
- Metropolitan Opera Ballet School
- MoMA
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- National Gallery of Art
- Tate
- La Cinémathèque Québécoise
- The Criterion Collection
- Moving Image
- OCEC
- Rome Women Film Festival
Locations
- Kyiv
- Ukraine
- United States
- New York City
- Hollywood
- Haiti
- Washington