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Maya Deren
Director 1917 - 1961

Maya Deren

Kyiv, Ukraine

Maya Deren (April 29, 1917 – October 13, 1961), born Eleonora Derenkowska (Ukrainian: Елеоно́ра Деренко́вська), was one of the most important American experimental filmmakers and entrepreneurial promoters of the avant-garde in the 1940s and 1950s. Deren was also a... Read full bio →

Directed Films

Every film this person directed

4 titles
Ritual in Transfigured Time

Ritual in Transfigured Time

Maya Deren 1946 15m

A social event choreographed in the manner of a dance, illuminated by concepts drawn from Greek legend; one of filmmaker Maya Deren's most intriguing works.

A Study in Choreography for Camera

A Study in Choreography for Camera

Maya Deren 1945 2m

Maya Deren’s shortest, two-minute A Study in Choreography for Camera seems like an exercise piece to capture a dancer’s movement on celluloid, which later on developed into her masterpieces such as Ritual in Transfigured Time and Meditation on Violence.

At Land

At Land

Maya Deren 1944 15m

A woman washes up on a beach and embarks on a surreal journey, encountering others and fragmented versions of herself in a quest for identity.

Meshes of the Afternoon

Meshes of the Afternoon

Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid 1943 14m 7.5

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

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