Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968) was an early female filmmaker who was smashing the glass ceiling in film over a century ago, making strides in a still-young industry dominated by men.
Catherine Stratton celebrates her impressive legacy in this Fandor Keyframe video. Guy-Blaché wrote, directed, or produced more than 1,000 films, of which 350 survive. She may have made the first narrative film in 1896’s The Cabbage Fairy, featuring the titular sprite as she picks babies from a cabbage patch (like the Cabbage Patch Kids, but a century ago).
She did remarkable work in feature-length motion pictures, special effects, hand coloring, and racially diverse casting, and she was also a pioneer of audio recording and owned her own studio.
