Maya Daren Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Maya Deren supported the artistic freedom, and especially the idea of non-fetishization of the woman figure, which sets herself in opposition to the feature production of the “male-controlled Hollywood film industry” (Rabinovitz), and it's artistic, political and economic monopoly over the American cinema. Hence, she is one of the most influential figures in the American post-war development of the personal, independent film. (Kay and Peary) Her entrepreneurial vision grew evident as she screened and distributed her films in the United States, Canada, and Cuba. In 1946, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Work in the Field of Motion Pictures, and won the Grand Prix Internationale for …show more content…
However, they are not faster enough, and they can never catch up to it. The slow motion in these scenes exacerbates the sense of frustration and helplessness. The hooded figure represents “a women’s difficulty in separating from their mothers, consolidating their identity, and coming to terms with their sexuality … a desperate yearning for her mother represented in the pursuit of the mirror-faced figure, and a self-destructive identification with her dead father, expressed through her final suicide .” (Fabe 141,150) Yet At Land, the 15 minutes experimental film co-produced with John Cage and Alexander Hammid, has little connection with the inner world; it expresses the hidden dynamic of the external world. Thus, the drama results from the activity of the outer world. Driving more to an environmental psychologist's perspective, At Land focuses "on the character's exploration of her subjectivity in her physical environment, inside as well as outside her subconscious, although it has a similar amorphous quality compared to her other films. (Nichols …show more content…
The 52 minutes documentary of Haitian Vodou ceremony reflects her interest is anthropology. The film captures the rituals of Rada, Petro and Congo cults, in which the deities known as Ioa, take possession of their devotees. The use of fade-in transition between scenes, slow-motion editing, as well as panning and close-up following the dancer’s movement in hand-held camera, emphasizes the mystique
This piece of autobiographical works is one of the greatest pieces of literature and will continue to inspire young and old black Americans to this day be cause of her hard and racially tense background is what produced an eloquent piece of work that feels at times more fiction than non fiction
At the University of Chicago, Dunham decided to study anthropology with a focus on African and Caribbean ritual dances. Here, she studied under many of the best anthropologists of the time, and in 1935, she was awarded a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to study dance in any way she wished. So, she decided to use this money to travel to the islands of the West Indies and document the ritual dances of the people. She visited such islands as Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique and Haiti; however, she found a special connection with the people of Haiti and the dances they performed, particularly in their Vodoun rituals. In 1936, Dunham received a bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago, and after gathering her research and materials from her work in the Caribbean, she submitted her thesis, Dances of Haiti: Their Social Organization, Classification, Form, and Function,” to the University of Chicago in 1938.
The Latina women, even throughout the era resistance cinema, have not been able to make much progress in overcoming the degrading stereotypes that Hollywood has created for them. Despite the many advances that minorities have made in the cinema in recent years, Latina actresses still take on the roles of the "dark skinned lady" and other such stereotypes with strong sexual connotations. It is often debatable whether or not the role of the Latina has undergone dramatic changes since the days of Dolores Del Rio and Carmen Miranda dancing with the fruit baskets on top of their heads. However, in recent years there has been an emphasis by various Latinas in the film industry to combat such stereotypical roles and redefine themselves through the film medium, especially by means of documentaries. It is hopeful that the existing portrayals of Latina women as the sex object and desirable mate will gave way to a range of opportunities in cinema with roles of a more powerful and influential nature.
Film making has gone through quite the substantial change since it’s initial coining just before the turn of the 19th century, and one would tend argue that the largest amount of this change has come quite recently or more so in the latter part of film’s history as a whole. One of the more prominent changes having taken place being the role of women in film. Once upon a time having a very set role in the industry, such as editing for example. To mention briefly the likes of Dede Allen, Verna Fields, Thelma Schoonmaker and so forth. Our female counterparts now occupy virtually every aspect of the film making industry that males do; and in many instances excel past us. Quite clearly this change has taken place behind the lens, but has it taken
"Angelou, Maya (née Marguerite Annie Johnson)." Encyclopedia of African-american Writing. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 12 March 2014.
Maya Lin is a driven and innovative artist of our time. Many of her works have been seen as controversial and received harsh criticism. She manages to trudge on. Her works express both an artistic and mathematical feel, somehow finding a beautiful marriage between. Her obsession with art and knowledge can be greatly attributed to her parents, as she was very successful at an early age. Her art career is one of many triumphs and breaking boundaries in the art world. Lin has a great love for nature, and many of her pieces help to express the significance of this, and she loves to enthrall the audience.
Considering descendants’ effort to bring this culture back in society, this entire dancing performance, masks, and the idea of interacting with the outside world must not have been merely correlated to their religious and spiritual ritual. It might have been their identity; a symbolic of their society which their ancestors had built and passed down to them.
"Angelou, Maya (biography)." Her Heritage: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Famous American Women. 1.00 ed. 1995. eLibrary. Web. 19 May. 2014.
`Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' and `I Know Why the Caged Bird
Immediately, as an anthropology major, I was able to tell that the intended audience for this film are students and scholars. Furthermore, I also had the opportunity of watching the film without the use of narration and for a moment I was confused and I was not really sure what Rouch was explaining. For this reason, Asch “never subscribed to the orthodoxy of ‘no narration.’ Before many ethnographic filmmakers had even embraced observational style, Asch realized that the problem with narrationless observational films about cultural behavior exotic to Western audiences was that viewers simply lacked the knowledge necessary to understand what they were seeing and. Without some assistance, were more likely to employ racist stereotypes” (Ruby 1975, 119). Therefore, both visual routine and the narrative, go hand in hand with helping the audience to understand what is happening in the film. Without the narration, audience members are quick to judge and become more ethnocentric. While viewing, Jean Rouch’s Les Maitres Fous (1955), I was also able to learn that Accra is a British colony, due to the displays of union jackets and the color of the flags held by the Army. The music in the film was also traditional and played a vital role throughout the film. As an anthropology major, one is being taught that films are used to communicate cultural ideas and perceptions. With regards to this, one has to become aware of the context and content being presented in a film, by analyzing and being observant of the filmmaker’s ideology, audience, and intent. In addition, the background of the filmmaker, ethics,
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
"I had decided that St. Louis was a foreign country. In my mind I had only stayed there for a few weeks. As quickly as I understood that I had not reached my home, I sneaked away to Robin's Hood's Forest and the caves of Alley Oop where all reality was unreal and even that changed my day. I carried the same shield that I had used in Stamps: 'I didn't come to stay.'"
Every child searches for individuality; what makes everyone unique? As a child, surroundings will shape who a person becomes. So a child raised in secure suburbs might be more trusting than a child who lives in a large city. Different environments will without a doubt put people in uncomfortable and sometimes unfortunate circumstances. Environment as a whole is what affects how a child behaves, thinks, and reacts to certain situations. In the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou exposes her own struggle to find identity as she endured racial hardships and sexual abuse.
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
Williams, Bruce. "The Reflection of a Blind Gaze: Maria Luisa Bemberg, Filmmaker." A Woman's Gaze: Latin American Women Artists. Ed. Marjorie Agosin. New York; White Pine Press, 1998. 171-90.