Cecile Starr

The astonishing story of the first documentary film school in the USA—The Institute of Film Techniques at The City College of New York. This groundbreaking program exposed thousands of working-class kids raised on Hollywood movies to the power of documentary film - all under the watchful eye of DADAist, pioneering experimental filmmaker and radical thinker, Hans Richter.

This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.

Filmmaker Jonas Mekas films 160 underground film people over four decades.

Première femme réalisatrice, productrice et directrice de studio de l’histoire du cinéma, Alice Guy est le sujet d’un documentaire mené tambour battant telle une enquête visant à faire (re)connaître la cinéaste et son œuvre de par le monde.

Shot on a September afternoon, in 1971, on the lawn and inside the studio of Hans Richter's Connecticut home. The artist talks informally with Cecile Starr about his first experiences as a filmmaker, and about the interrelationship of his films and his paintings, scrolls and collages. Excerpts from Rhythm 21, Ghosts before breakfast and Race symphony help illustrate Richter's comments about how these pioneer avant-garde films were made in the years between 1921 and 1929.

A short documentary tracing the development of magic lanterns. The collection of Nat Myers, Jr. is shown and demonstrations are made of early colorful images and movement patterns. Early toy movie projector are also seen. Narrated, with a music box soundtrack. Includes an excerpt from the Georges Méliès film, The Magic Lantern (1903).