Maya Deren

Born in Kiew in 1917. Died in New York in 1961. In 1922, family migrates to the USA. Studies at Syracuse University, where she discovers her interested in film. In 1936 undergraduate degree at New York University. In 1939, Masters Degree in English Literature and symbolist poetry. Assistant to the dancer and choreographor Katherine Dunham. First film in 1943, in collaboration with her husband Alexander Hamis. Organisation of indepdendent film screenings in New York. Finances most of her works independently, works as photographer for newspapers, gives lectures at Universities and writes articles for magazines. Receives a grant by the Guggenheim Foundation. From 1947 to 1951 shots a documentary on voodoo in Haiti. Is initiated as a priestess. Writes the book “Divine Horsemen: Voodoo Gods of Haiti“, which is considered the most accurate description of the reality and content of the voodoo myth.

in distribution

The Very Eye of Night, 1959

Meditation on Violence, 1948

Divine Horseman: The Living Gods of Haiti, 1947-51/77

Ritual in Transfigured Time, 1946

A Study in Choreography for Camera, 1945

At Land, 1944

Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943