Maya Deren
Encyclopedia
Maya Deren born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American
avant-garde
filmmaker and film
theorist of the 1940s and 1950s. Deren was also a choreographer, dancer, poet, writer and photographer.
, Ukraine
to psychologist Solomon Derenkowsky and Marie Fiedler, who supposedly named her after Italian actress Eleanora Duse.
In 1922, the family moved to Syracuse, New York
. Her father shortened the family name to "Deren" shortly after they arrived in New York. He became the staff psychiatrist at the State Institute for the Feeble-Minded
in Syracuse.
In 1928, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Her mother moved to Paris
to be with her daughter while she attended the League of Nations
School in Geneva, Switzerland from 1930 to 1933.
, where she became active in the Trotskyist Young People's Socialist League (1907)
. Through the YPSL she met Gregory Bardacke, whom she later married at the age of eighteen. After his graduation in 1935, she moved to New York City
. She and her husband became active in various socialist causes in New York City. She graduated from New York University
and separated from Bardacke. The divorce was finalized in 1939. She attended the New School for Social Research and received a master’s degree in English literature at Smith College
. Her master's thesis
was titled "The Influence of the French Symbolist School on Anglo-American Poetry" (1939).
After graduation from Smith, Deren returned to New York
’s Greenwich Village
, where she worked as an editorial assistant and free-lance photographer. In 1941, Deren wrote and suggested a children's book on dance to choreographer Katherine Dunham
and later became her personal secretary. At the end of a tour, the Dunham dance company
stopped in Los Angeles
for several months to work in Hollywood. It was there that Deren met Alexandr Hackenschmied
(later Hammid), a celebrated Czech-born photographer and cameraman who would become her second husband in 1942. Hackenschmied had fled Czechoslovakia in 1938 after Hitler's advance.
(1947) for creative work in motion pictures, and created a scholarship for experimental filmmakers, the Creative Film Foundation. These efforts established her as an important voice in postwar avant-garde film.
In the early 1940s, Deren used some of the inheritance from her father to purchase a used 16 mm Bolex
camera. She used this camera to make her first and best-known film, Meshes of the Afternoon
(1943), in Los Angeles in collaboration with Hammid. Meshes of the Afternoon is recognized as a seminal American avant-garde film. Originally a silent film with no dialogue, music for the film was composed by Deren's third husband Teiji Itō
in 1952.
In 1943, she adopted the name Maya Deren. Maya is the name of the mother of the historical Buddha
as well as the dharmic concept of the illusory nature of reality. In Greek myth, Maia
is the mother of Hermes
and a goddess of mountains and fields. Also in 1943, Deren began making a film with Marcel Duchamp
, The Witches' Cradle, which was never completed.
In 1944, back in New York City, her social circle included Duchamp, André Breton
, John Cage
, and Anaïs Nin
.
Deren's second film was At Land
, which she made in 1944. She made A Study in Choreography for the Camera in 1945. Ritual in Transfigured Time was made in 1946, which explored the fear of rejection and the freedom of expression in abandoning ritual.
In 1947, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for "Creative Work in the Field of Motion Pictures", and won the Grand Prix Internationale for 16mm experimental film
at the Cannes Film Festival
for Meshes of the Afternoon.
Deren's Meditation on Violence was made in 1948. Chao-Li Chi
's performance obscures the distinction between violence and beauty. Halfway through the film, the sequence is rewound, producing a film loop.
In 1958, Deren collaborated with the Metropolitan Opera
Ballet School and Antony Tudor
to create The Very Eye of Night.
Deren distributed her own films and promoted them through lectures and screenings in the United States, Canada, and Cuba. She lectured on film theory
and Vodoun. She wrote, directed, edited, and performed in her own films.
, she was criticized for abandoning avant-garde film where she had made her place, but she was ready to expand to a new level as an artist. The Guggenheim fellowship
grant in 1947 enabled Deren to finance travel to Haiti
and to complete her film Meditation on Violence. She went on three additional trips through 1954 to document and record the rituals of vodoun.
A source of inspiration for ritual dance was Katherine Dunham
who wrote her master’s thesis on Haitian dances in 1939, which Deren edited. Afterwards Deren wrote several articles on religious possession in dancing before her first trip to Haiti. Deren not only filmed, recorded and photographed many hours of vodoun ritual
, but also participated in the ceremonies. She documented her knowledge and experience of Vodoun in Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (New York: Vanguard Press, 1953), edited by Joseph Campbell
, which is considered a definitive source on the subject.
Deren filmed 18,000 feet of Vodoun rituals and people she met in Haiti. The footage was incorporated into a posthumous documentary
film Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti
edited and produced by Teiji Itō and his wife Cherel Winett Itō (1947–1999) in 1977. All of the original wire recordings, photographs and notes are held in the Maya Deren Collection at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University
. The film footage is housed at Anthology Film Archives
in New York City.
An LP of some of Derren's wire recordings was published by the newly-formed Elektra Records
in 1953 entitled Voices of Haiti. The cover art for the album was by Teijo Ito (sic).
. Deren was taking amphetamines and sleeping pills on a daily basis when she died. Her father suffered from high blood pressure, which she may have had as well.
Her ashes were scattered in Japan
at Mount Fuji
.
created the Maya Deren Award to honor independent filmmakers.
Works about Deren and her works have been produced in various media:
Deren's films have also been shown with newly-written alternative soundtracks:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
filmmaker and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
theorist of the 1940s and 1950s. Deren was also a choreographer, dancer, poet, writer and photographer.
Early life
Deren was born in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
to psychologist Solomon Derenkowsky and Marie Fiedler, who supposedly named her after Italian actress Eleanora Duse.
In 1922, the family moved to Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. Her father shortened the family name to "Deren" shortly after they arrived in New York. He became the staff psychiatrist at the State Institute for the Feeble-Minded
Syracuse State School
The Syracuse State School was a residential facility in Syracuse, New York for mentally disabled children and adults. Founded in 1851 in Albany, New York as the New York State Asylum for Idiots, acting upon a recommendation contained in the 1846 annual report of the New York State Asylum for...
in Syracuse.
In 1928, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Her mother moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to be with her daughter while she attended the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
School in Geneva, Switzerland from 1930 to 1933.
College
Deren began college at Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, where she became active in the Trotskyist Young People's Socialist League (1907)
Young People's Socialist League (1907)
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1907, was the official youth arm of the Socialist Party of America. Its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic socialists and affecting the issues impacting that demographic group.- Foundation and...
. Through the YPSL she met Gregory Bardacke, whom she later married at the age of eighteen. After his graduation in 1935, she moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She and her husband became active in various socialist causes in New York City. She graduated from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and separated from Bardacke. The divorce was finalized in 1939. She attended the New School for Social Research and received a master’s degree in English literature at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
. Her master's thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
was titled "The Influence of the French Symbolist School on Anglo-American Poetry" (1939).
After graduation from Smith, Deren returned to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
’s Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, where she worked as an editorial assistant and free-lance photographer. In 1941, Deren wrote and suggested a children's book on dance to choreographer Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
and later became her personal secretary. At the end of a tour, the Dunham dance company
Katherine Dunham Company
The Katherine Dunham Company, a troupe of dancers, singers, actors and musicians, was the first African American modern dance company. It descended from Ballet Negre, a student troupe founded by Katherine Dunham, which later became the Negro Dance Troupe.The company had successful runs on Broadway...
stopped in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for several months to work in Hollywood. It was there that Deren met Alexandr Hackenschmied
Alexandr Hackenschmied
Alexandr Hackenschmied was a leading photographer and filmmaker in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema...
(later Hammid), a celebrated Czech-born photographer and cameraman who would become her second husband in 1942. Hackenschmied had fled Czechoslovakia in 1938 after Hitler's advance.
Cinema
Deren wrote articles and books, made avant-garde films, conducted "lecture study demonstrations", received a Guggenheim fellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1947) for creative work in motion pictures, and created a scholarship for experimental filmmakers, the Creative Film Foundation. These efforts established her as an important voice in postwar avant-garde film.
In the early 1940s, Deren used some of the inheritance from her father to purchase a used 16 mm Bolex
Bolex
Bolex is a Swiss company that manufactures motion picture cameras and lenses, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. The Bolex company was initially founded by Jacques Bogopolsky in 1927. Bolex is derived from his name. He had previously designed cameras for...
camera. She used this camera to make her first and best-known film, Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a...
(1943), in Los Angeles in collaboration with Hammid. Meshes of the Afternoon is recognized as a seminal American avant-garde film. Originally a silent film with no dialogue, music for the film was composed by Deren's third husband Teiji Itō
Teiji Ito
was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan into a theatrical family. His father, Yuji Itō, was a composer and costume designer, and his mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer who worked in both traditional...
in 1952.
In 1943, she adopted the name Maya Deren. Maya is the name of the mother of the historical Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
as well as the dharmic concept of the illusory nature of reality. In Greek myth, Maia
Maia (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Maia is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes. The goddess known as Maia among the Romans may have originated independently, but attracted the myths of Greek Maia because the two figures shared the same name.-Birth:...
is the mother of Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
and a goddess of mountains and fields. Also in 1943, Deren began making a film with Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
, The Witches' Cradle, which was never completed.
In 1944, back in New York City, her social circle included Duchamp, André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, and Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
.
Deren's second film was At Land
At Land
At Land is a 15-minute silent experimental film written, directed by, and starring Maya Deren. It has a dream-like narrative in which a woman, played by Deren, is washed up on a beach and goes on a strange journey encountering other people and other versions of herself...
, which she made in 1944. She made A Study in Choreography for the Camera in 1945. Ritual in Transfigured Time was made in 1946, which explored the fear of rejection and the freedom of expression in abandoning ritual.
In 1947, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for "Creative Work in the Field of Motion Pictures", and won the Grand Prix Internationale for 16mm experimental film
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
for Meshes of the Afternoon.
Deren's Meditation on Violence was made in 1948. Chao-Li Chi
Chao-Li Chi
Chao-Li Chi was a Shanxi-born actor and dancer, who worked extensively in American television, including his best known role as Chao Li, opposite Jane Wyman's character in Falcon Crest. Additionally, his film credits include Big Trouble in Little China, The Joy Luck Club, The Nutty Professor,...
's performance obscures the distinction between violence and beauty. Halfway through the film, the sequence is rewound, producing a film loop.
In 1958, Deren collaborated with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Ballet School and Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
to create The Very Eye of Night.
Deren distributed her own films and promoted them through lectures and screenings in the United States, Canada, and Cuba. She lectured on film theory
Film theory
Film theory is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large...
and Vodoun. She wrote, directed, edited, and performed in her own films.
Criticism of Hollywood
Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Deren attacked Hollywood for its artistic, political and economic monopoly over American cinema. She stated, “I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick,” and observed that Hollywood “has been a major obstacle to the definition and development of motion pictures as a creative fine-art form.” She set herself in opposition to the Hollywood film industry’s standards and practices.Haiti and Vodoun
When Maya Deren decided to make an ethnographic film in HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, she was criticized for abandoning avant-garde film where she had made her place, but she was ready to expand to a new level as an artist. The Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
grant in 1947 enabled Deren to finance travel to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and to complete her film Meditation on Violence. She went on three additional trips through 1954 to document and record the rituals of vodoun.
A source of inspiration for ritual dance was Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
who wrote her master’s thesis on Haitian dances in 1939, which Deren edited. Afterwards Deren wrote several articles on religious possession in dancing before her first trip to Haiti. Deren not only filmed, recorded and photographed many hours of vodoun ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
, but also participated in the ceremonies. She documented her knowledge and experience of Vodoun in Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (New York: Vanguard Press, 1953), edited by Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, which is considered a definitive source on the subject.
Deren filmed 18,000 feet of Vodoun rituals and people she met in Haiti. The footage was incorporated into a posthumous documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
film Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (film)
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti is a black-and-white documentary film about dance and possession in Haitian vodou that was shot by experimental filmmaker Maya Deren between 1947 and 1954....
edited and produced by Teiji Itō and his wife Cherel Winett Itō (1947–1999) in 1977. All of the original wire recordings, photographs and notes are held in the Maya Deren Collection at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. The film footage is housed at Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives
__notoc__Anthology Film Archives is a film archive and theater located at 32 Second Avenue on the corner of East Second Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City devoted to the preservation and exhibition of experimental film. It is the only non-profit organization of its...
in New York City.
An LP of some of Derren's wire recordings was published by the newly-formed Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
in 1953 entitled Voices of Haiti. The cover art for the album was by Teijo Ito (sic).
Death
Deren died in 1961, at the age of 44, from a brain hemorrhage brought on by extreme malnutrition. Her condition was also weakened by the amphetamines she had been taking since she began working for Dunham in 1941, prescribed by Dr. Max JacobsonMax Jacobson
Max Jacobson was a German-born New York physician, nicknamed "Dr. Feelgood" who administered dangerous levels of amphetamines and other medications to several high profile clients including American President John F...
. Deren was taking amphetamines and sleeping pills on a daily basis when she died. Her father suffered from high blood pressure, which she may have had as well.
Her ashes were scattered in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
at Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji
is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
.
Legacy
Deren was a key figure in the creation of a New American Cinema, highlighting personal, experimental, underground film. In 1986, the American Film InstituteAmerican Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
created the Maya Deren Award to honor independent filmmakers.
Works about Deren and her works have been produced in various media:
- In 1987, Jo Ann Kaplan directed a biographical documentary about Deren, titled Invocation: Maya Deren (65 min)
- In 1994, the UK-based Horse and Bamboo TheatreHorse and Bamboo TheatreHorse and Bamboo Theatre or Horse + Bamboo Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 1978 by Bob Frith. The company works with a commitment to strong narratives but using visual, physical, and music-based forms rather than text. In particular it uses distinctive full-head masks...
created and toured Dance of White Darkness throughout Europe—the story of Deren's visits to Haiti. - In 2002, Martina Kudlacek directed a feature-length documentary about Deren, titled In the Mirror of Maya DerenIn the Mirror of Maya DerenThe documentary In the Mirror of Maya Deren is a film about avant garde filmmaker Maya Deren by Austrian film maker Martina Kudlacek. It is based on the biography The Legend of Maya Deren....
(Im Spiegel der Maya Deren), which featured music by John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
.
Deren's films have also been shown with newly-written alternative soundtracks:
- In 2004, the British rock group SubterraneansSubterraneans (band)Subterraneans are an art-rock band from London, England. Fronted by former Angelhead vocalist and songwriter Jude Rawlins, they also feature former Wave guitarist Carl Homer, former Solstice bass player Robin Phillips, and Van der Graaf Generator drummer Guy Evans.-Film, Theatre and...
produced new soundtracks for six of Deren's short films as part of a commission from Queen's University Belfast's annual film festivalBelfast Film FestivalFounded in 1995 by author Laurence McKeown, in its early stages of development the West Belfast Film Festival was part of Féile an Phobail. In its third and fourth year, it was autonomous and under the stewardship of Michele Devlin and Laurence McKeown, the Film Festival ran as a citywide event...
. At Land won the festival prize for sound design. - In 2008, the Portuguese rock group Mão MortaMão MortaMão Morta is a Portuguese avant-garde rock band that started its activities in 1985 in Braga. The group's name means "dead hand", based on a traditional Portuguese nursery rhyme. They are generally considered to be one of the most important bands in the Portuguese rock scene...
produced new soundtracks for four of Deren's short films as part of a commission from Curtas Vila do Conde's annual film festival.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Format | Length | Cast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | The Witch's Cradle | 16 mm | 13 minutes | Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art... , Pajorita Matta |
B&W; unfinished |
| 1943 | Meshes of the Afternoon Meshes of the Afternoon Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a... |
16 mm | 14 minutes | Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Co-directed with Alexander Hammid; B&W; music by Teiji Itō Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan into a theatrical family. His father, Yuji Itō, was a composer and costume designer, and his mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer who worked in both traditional... added in 1959 |
| 1944 | At Land At Land At Land is a 15-minute silent experimental film written, directed by, and starring Maya Deren. It has a dream-like narrative in which a woman, played by Deren, is washed up on a beach and goes on a strange journey encountering other people and other versions of herself... |
16 mm | 15 minutes | John Cage John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde... , Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid |
B&W |
| 1945 | A Study in Choreography for Camera | 16 mm | 3 minutes | Talley Beatty Talley Beatty Talley Beatty was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles dancer, educator, and dance company director... |
B&W |
| 1946 | Ritual in Transfigured Time | 16 mm | 14 minutes | Rita Christiani, Maya Deren | B&W; silent |
| 1947 | The Private Life of a Cat | 16 mm | 29 minutes | Collaboration with Alexander Hammid | |
| 1948 | Meditation on Violence | 16 mm | 13 minutes | Chao-li Chi | music by Teiji Itō Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan into a theatrical family. His father, Yuji Itō, was a composer and costume designer, and his mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer who worked in both traditional... |
| 1949 | Medusa | 16 mm | 10 minutes | |Jean Erdman Jean Erdman Jean Erdman is a dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director.-Early years:Erdman was born on February 20, 1916 in Honolulu, Hawaii... |
unfinished |
| 1951 | Ensemble for Somnambulists | 16 mm | 7 minutes | Toronto Film Society workshop; unreleased | |
| 1958 | The Very Eye of Night | 16 mm | 15 minutes | In collaboration with Metropolitan Opera Ballet School; assistant director: Harrison Starr III; music by Teiji Itō Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan into a theatrical family. His father, Yuji Itō, was a composer and costume designer, and his mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer who worked in both traditional... |
|
| 1959 | Season of Strangers | 16 mm | 58 minutes | Also known as Haiku Film Project; unfinished | |
| 1985 | Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti | 16 mm | John Genke (voice), Joan Pape (voice) | Original footage shot by Deren (1947–1954); reconstruction by Teiji and Cherel Itō Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren.Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan into a theatrical family. His father, Yuji Itō, was a composer and costume designer, and his mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer who worked in both traditional... |
External links
- Deren bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
- In the Mirror of Maya Deren at IMDB
- Martina Kudláček (director of "In the Mirror of Maya Deren") by Robert Gardner BOMB 81/Fall 2002
- Maya Deren Forum
- Private Life of a Cat (1947) at the Internet Archive
- http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/archives-cc/app/details.php?id=7652&return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bu.edu%2Fphpbin%2Farchives-cc%2Fapp%2Fbrowse.php%3Fletter%3DD%26sort_column%3Dcomposite_name%26sort_direction%3DASC%26per_page%3D10%26offset%3D20%26set_page%3DnextMaya Deren Collection at Boston UniversityBoston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center] - 'Divine Horsemen' (book): excerpts