When Alice Guy-Blaché made her first film in 1896 Paris, she was not only the first female filmmaker but one of the first directors ever to make a narrative film.

BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ follows her rise from Gaumont secretary to head of production a year later, and her 20-year career in France and in the United States as the founder of her own studio and as writer, director, and/or producer of 1,000 films — after which she was veritably erased from history…until now. The film is directed by Pamela B. Green and narrated by Jodie Foster.

BFF is home to inclusion in all forms of media, and thinking about black-and-white films in such a modern time might seem like old media, there’s still something powerful about reviewing the historical elements of the film and more importantly, the filmmakers involved.

The documentary, narrated by Jodie Foster, showcases the life and work of Alice Guy-Blaché, who started writing and directing her own films, starting with “The Cabbage Fairy” in 1896. Guy-Blache is known for her clever camera and editing techniques and the way she handled herself and film. After a short time, she was named the head of production at Gaumont. She influenced a lot of well-known filmmakers, such as a young Sergei Eisenstein and later Alfred Hitchcock, and by 1908 she was running her own movie production studio, Solax, based in New Jersey.

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“Green’s revision of that record is long overdue and just in time, given the present-day reckoning with Hollywood’s stubborn traditions of behind-the-scenes (and onscreen) sexism. Most intriguing are the clips the documentary gathers from Guy Blaché’s films. Many of them look less like old curiosities than lost classics, and their range — from the surreal slapstick of “The Drunken Mattress,” to the domestic melodrama of “Falling Leaves,” to the social satire of “Consequences of Feminism” — is astonishing. (Several have been issued by Kino Lorber in the indispensable “Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers”collection). By the end of “Be Natural,” you won’t only have a clear idea of who this remarkable woman was; you may well have acquired a new taste in old movies.”

New York Times, CRITIC’S PICK ‘Be Natural’ Review: Rescuing Alice Guy Blaché, a Film Pioneer, From Oblivion

Pamela B. Green

Director, Pamela B. Green, will be at the showing of “Be Natural”.

Originally from New York, Pamela B. Green lived most of her life in Europe and Israel and as a result, is fluent in English, French, Italian, and Hebrew. In 2005, she founded PIC, an entertainment and motion design boutique based in Los Angeles, California. Green’s work ranges from feature film main titles, motion graphics, creative directing, directing and producing music videos and commercials. She is known in the industry for creating titles sequences and story sequences using her knowledge of graphic design, animation, editorial, and rare archival stock footage research.

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