Born in Saint-Mandé, near Paris, in 1873 and died in 1968 in New Jersey, Alice Guy-Blaché began as a secretary at Gaumont and became, from 1896, the head of fiction film production, directing hundreds of short films. She is often credited as the first woman to direct a narrative film, and she was one of the first filmmakers anywhere to work with synchronised sound and colour. She moved to the United States in 1907 and ran her own studio, Solax, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Her contribution was largely forgotten, and has been restored by film historians in recent decades.
Filmography
- The Cabbage Fairy (1896)
- The Consequences of Feminism (1906)
- Falling Leaves (1912)
- Algie the Miner (1912)