Maya Deren American independent film director, choreographer, ethnographer Date of Birth: 29.04.1917 Country: USA

American Filmmaker and Choreographer Maya Deren

Maya Deren was an American independent filmmaker, choreographer, and ethnographer. Born as Eleonora Derenkowska in Kiev, Ukraine on April 29, 1917, she was the daughter of Solomon Derenkowsky, a well-known Freudian psychiatrist and Trotskyist, and Maria Fidler, an actress. Her parents named her after the popular Italian actress Eleonora Duse, but in 1943, she changed her name to Maya Deren. Maya was chosen to honor an Native American tribe, while Deren was a shortened version of her surname.

Escaping the terror that came with the rise of the Bolsheviks in Kiev, Deren's parents fled to Syracuse, New York in the United States, taking five-year-old Eleonora with them. She attended school in Syracuse and later enrolled at New York University, where she studied political science. As a student, Deren became involved in fashionable Trotskyist circles, considering that Trotsky was both a compatriot and an exile from the country she longed for. Eleonora had an exotic appearance, reminiscent of Cleopatra or an ancient cult priestess. In fact, she earned the nickname "priestess of experimental cinema" in the history of film. However, before she became known as such, she conducted linguistic research, wrote theoretical texts, and poetry.

When her interest in political science and languages waned, Deren turned her attention to filmmaking. Hollywood at the time had many European emigrants who had escaped the horrors of war by coming to America. It was here, in 1942, that Deren met Czech avant-garde artist Alexander Hammid, also known as Alexander Hackenschmied. Alexander worked in Hollywood and experimented with photography in his free time. The meeting with the extraordinary woman from Kiev was fateful for him. Together, they began making films on 16mm film, with Alexander as the cinematographer and Deren as the ideologist, engine, and main protagonist. Soon, their relationship went beyond the professional sphere, and they married and lived together until 1947.

Deren gained wide recognition with her film "Meshes of the Afternoon" (1943), a 13-minute stream of images resembling a series of surrealist photographs. The film's main character is a woman dressed in black, portrayed by Deren herself. She is often identified with death. This film became one of the major works in her filmography, which critics dubbed a "poetic psychodrama." According to researchers of the director's work, Deren's main goal in cinema was to immerse the audience in a state of hypnotic enchantment, to transcend the boundaries of real time and space. This was achieved through the use of mirrors and enfilades, play of light and shadow, changing optical perspectives, a carefully structured ceremonial rhythm, and other cinematic techniques. At the time, this kind of filmmaking was innovative and caused astonishment. Nevertheless, "Meshes of the Afternoon" caused a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival, where Deren attended in 1947, and won the International Prize for experimental cinema.

Undoubtedly, Deren's obsession with magical rituals and specifically, the oldest of them all - dance, had a significant influence on her work. It is worth mentioning that besides working on film, Deren also worked as a secretary for Katherine Dunham, a great American ballerina and the founder of "black dance," who studied Haitian and African rituals. Dunham introduced Deren to her interest in the cultures of ancient peoples.

In 1947, Deren's life took a turning point. She left her husband, her previous job, and went to Haiti to truly experience the power of voodoo rituals. Embracing the same emotions as the island's native inhabitants, Maya quickly gained their respect and fully immersed herself in the new religion. After a while, she was initiated into voodoo and participated in all the ceremonies. From 1947 to 1954, Deren visited Haiti three times. During this time, she made two films, collected a large amount of additional footage, and wrote one of the most comprehensive books on Haitian culture, titled "Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti."

In 1952, Deren began shooting one of her strangest and most controversial films, "The Very Eye of Night" (1958), which faced financial difficulties and was released several years later. The film was a result of collaboration with the dance school of the Metropolitan Opera. Maya Deren quickly understood what Hollywood truly was. She criticized directors for making films solely for the purpose of attracting audiences and financial gain. One could say that Deren was one of the first "independent" filmmakers in America. Her ideas were supported by other avant-garde artists with whom she closely collaborated, including André Breton, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, and Antony Tudor.

Maya Deren passed away on October 13, 1961, at the age of 44, due to a cerebral hemorrhage believed to be caused by her prolonged use of amphetamines. Her ashes were scattered over Mount Fuji in Japan. Deren's artistic style anticipated the American underground film movement and influenced many experimental filmmakers. One of her most famous students and followers was the director David Lynch.