Maya Deren: Experimental Films

Born Eleanora Derenkowsky in Kiev, Maya Deren was planning a book on dance when she met the Czech exile Alexander Hammid and developed instead, into the 'mother of the... more >

Born Eleanora Derenkowsky in Kiev, Maya Deren was planning a book on dance when she met the Czech exile Alexander Hammid and developed instead, into the 'mother of the underground film.' The work contained in Experimental Films has a surreal quality that is intensified by her own ethereal presence. But it's her audacious use of camera that makes her exploration of space and time in Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), At Land (1944) and Rituals in Transfigured Time (1946) so mesmerising. The same enigmatic energy is evident in Dance Films, while her fascination with ancient ritual informs The Divine Horsemen, a study of Haitian cosmology that was posthumously released by her third husband, Teiji Ito, in 1977. < less

View all 92 of David Parkinson’s reviews

Six films by Maya Deren. Each time this brilliant filmmaker made a film, she added something new to the art instrument. For Maya Deren, the cardinal rule for making fi... more >

Six films by Maya Deren. Each time this brilliant filmmaker made a film, she added something new to the art instrument. For Maya Deren, the cardinal rule for making films was to create a new essence. Meshes of the Afternoon and At Land are cyclical journeys distinct though part of her \'dance film\' heritage: A Study in Choreography for Camera, Ritual in Transfigured Time. After these she went to Haiti to study the rituals of Voudoun. Meditation on Violence reveals her immersion in a system of Divine Principle. The Very Eye of Night symbolizes her awareness of \'the abyss\' where one plunged to the depth in the creative process. These six films take the viewer on a journey within. Everything you ever thought about the possibility of cinema comes true.

< less

View all 2 of Moira Sullivan’s reviews

Ratings for this VHSPAL

Average Rating
Log in to place your vote!

Film Details

Technical Details

Other Versions & Formats