Popular reviews

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½ 8

  In 2010, I started reading about Alice Guy-Blaché and in 2013, I completed my master's thesis about women who directed films in the silent era (I started out thinking there were maybe 35 and there ended up being over 100 world-wide).

  For silent film enthusiasts like me, this documentary is perfect. Despite tons of research, including having read her memoirs, the documentary still managed to be informative. After all, I don't think I had seen so much actual footage of Guy-Blanché talking.

  The most important thing to take away is that film history has been written by white men who have basically ignored the accomplishments of women and African Americans for that matter. Guy-Blaché was ahead of her time and…

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  Review by eely 🎄 ★★★★½

  I could feel my heart snapping in half when alice was talking about how she’d written her memoirs but nobody wanted to publish them. in the words of agnès varda: “long live madame alice guy-blaché.”

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  Review by Will Steele ★★★★

  Not only a gorgeously crafted documentary, but a story so intrinsic to the history of cinema that it would be a crime for any cinephile not to familiarise themselves with Alice Guy-Blanché

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  Review by theironcupcake ★★★★★ 14

  "There is nothing connected with the staging of a motion picture that a woman cannot do as easily as a man, and there is no reason why she cannot completely master every technicality of the art." (Alice Guy-Blaché)

  Women Film Editors #160: Pamela B. Green

  Happy Global Movie Day! The second Saturday in February is meant to honor contributions to cinema, so I went all the way back to the beginning with Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, a documentary about the first woman ever to step behind a film camera in 1896. Directed and edited by Pamela B. Green, this is an exceptional tribute to a monumental figure in her industry's history, yet whose name is still…

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  Review by Maria ★★★★★

  Pamela B. Green’s research is tremendous! I’ve been following this project for about five years, looking forward to finally seeing it finished, and I’m so happy it’s finally out! It’s a beautifully crafted, imaginative, exhaustive, and necessary documentary about Alice Guy-Blaché. You can feel Green’s passion and devotion throughout, and her work to get Alice’s name and legacy out there, known by the world, is inspiring. The fact that so few people know of her, and that even less talk about her, is a terrible gap in film history and our collective memory. So do yourself and the world a favor and watch this doc!

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  Review by Will Sloan ★★½

  Disappointing documentary about Alice Guy-Blanche, the first female film director. Director Pamela B. Green begins with the premise that Guy-Blanche has not only been underrated compared to contemporaries like Griffith and Melies (true), but almost totally unknown (not true). To prove this point, she interviews dozens upon dozens of big names (from Peter Bogdanovich to Peter Farrelly to Andy Samberg to Evan Rachel Wood to Ava DuVernay), most of whom appear only momentarily, and most of whom have never heard of Guy-Blanche until now. Too much of the film is taken up with these people saying things like “I saw that one movie of hers you showed me, and it was pretty good!” The point that more people should know…

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  Review by jstoobs ★★★★½

  Women’s History Month 2023 first watches 1/20 

  Alice Guy-Blaché was so remarkable it verges on unbelievable. The fact that she was nearly forced into obscurity & much of her work falsely credited to her male peers for decades is as devastating as it is unsurprising. Her story & wildly impressive accomplishments are fascinating enough on their own and will surely win some actress an Oscar for the inevitable biopic, but what makes this doc so fascinating is the miraculous archival footage of Alice in her later years giving a first hand account of her role in the birth of cinema. If you have even a passing interest in film history, this is a must watch. I fell a little bit in love with Alice watching this & I’m so grateful for this doc bringing attention to a truly incredible lady.

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  Review by Nicolás Vargas ★★★★

  A pioneer of cinema forgotten by the very industry she helped create on the account of being a woman director, writer and producer. Alice should forever be remembered alongside renowned male figures of the time like the Lumière, Le Prince or Georges Méliès.

  A fascinating journey that spans for decades of harsh film-footage quests and family heritage research to finally get her name where it rightfully belongs. Listening to her voice in the 50's interviews was heartbreaking but also inspiring as hell -- a mandatory watch for every history buff out there. Cried twice... Fucking white men!

  So long live madame Alice Guy-Blaché!

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  Review by Joe Lynch ★★★½

  Fascinating, compelling doc about the worlds first female filmmaker mostly forgotten by history but someone who needs to be recognized for her contributions to cinema. Also a great detective story or sorts as the filmmakers uncover her work and impact on the art form. Def see this doc.

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  Review by Isabel Wittmann ★★★★

  Alice Guy é uma cineasta que me fascina há anos. O documentário, que traz nova luz a sua vida e obra, tem uma estrutura que vai e volta e muda em cima de si mesma e, apesar da confusão, ele informa e emociona. Se, por um lado, quase nenhum dos depoimentos dos cineastas contemporâneos sobre o que pensam da obra dela acrescenta muita coisa (e talvez a exceção seja o desconforto e as poucas palavras de Ava DuVernay, que dizem muito), por outro o acesso a entrevistas em áudio e vídeo da própria Alice comentando sua trajetória e seu apagamento são inestimáveis. O esforço da diretora em conseguir desenterrar cartas, fotos e qualquer tipo de documento histórico que dê corporeidade…

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  Review by Robert Hayes ★★★★★

  An endlessly fascinating documentary and detective story.

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  Review by Jack Moulton ★★★★

  If there's any justice, this documentary will become a big deal and Alice Guy-Blache will re-enter the mainstream. Mark my words.