By – Gareth Jones

For fans of film history documentaries, and much needed spotlight on female filmmakers

When I went to film school as an undergraduate in the early 1990’s there was no mention of Alice Guy-Blaché.  When I went to graduate film school in the early 2000’s there was just a hint of her in my courses.  When I started to teach film studies in 2007, the textbooks barely mentioned her.  It was only in my own research and readings that I discovered her work and added her to my film history courses. Slowly, textbooks have begun to add her work to the discussion.  This mirrors the ascent of Oscar Micheaux and black filmmakers.  In both cases, film history has rightfully been re-written.  This is why the documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché is so vital.  Yes, there had been work done on Alice Guy-Blaché before, but not on the same entertaining level as Pamela Green’s examination of how someone so important to film history was nearly completely forgotten.

The documentary does a great job from the start establishing how few people know about Guy-Blaché as Green interviews a massive number of folks from film historians, family members of Guy-Blaché, countless filmmakers, comedians, and many more.  All of them are in the dark.  The film then tells the story chronologically.  It mirrors the development of the film industry from the birth in 1895 to the modern world.  Alice was there at the very beginning, when the Lumière brothers first projected their films. She was working for the Gaumont company as a secretary/stenographer and was at that screening. Incredible. From there, her involvement from technical production to stepping in as director to doing absolutely everything connected to film work including starting her own studio, Solex, in New Jersey.  It is an astonishing story and so important.  Green’s background as a titles designer comes into play with the mechanics and aesthetics of the documentary.  She does a brilliant job telling the story with animation, moving the story along at a brisk pace.  I watched it with my 15 year old daughters and they were entranced.

Green makes a strong argument that Alice Guy-Blaché was just as important as an artist and innovator as she was being the first.  Over and over, we are shown stunning examples of how she contributed to the artform as it was developing.  As we learn, at that brief moment at the beginnings of cinema, women played a crucial role and had such an influence.  It was only when the corporations realized how much money could be made in the cinema, that they pushed all the women out of the industry. The battle for equality still rages on in the film world.

One of my favorite aspects of the documentary is the narration of Jodie Foster, a perfect selection to tell this story.  She brings a wonderful balance between information and entertainment.  In addition, her pronunciation of French is magnifique!  (My co-host for Sleep In Cinema is most likely cringing as he imagines saying this.)

Guy-Blaché motto was “Be Natural” which was painted above the doorway in her Solex studio.  It is a fitting title for the film as well, as it beautifully shows how Guy-Blaché was a natural. She was just as important as the typically cited creators of film language.  Even now, six years after this film was released, researchers are still finding materials and missing films from that era by Guy-Blaché.  By the way, her husband (who sadly cheated on her and got most of the credit for the studio work) was named Blaché.  It is important then to emphasize that her name Alice Guy is so important and should be front and center, even though it is darkly ironic that a Guy should get the spotlight.

Available to stream everywhere. Make sure to look up her films as well on YouTube.