Alice Guy-Blaché might not be a household name, but she was a trailblazing filmmaker in the French and American movie industries during the silent film era. She was the first female director and innovated the way stories were told on screen, although her contributions were ignored for many years.

Unlike her contemporaries, Guy-Blaché saw potential in films beyond simple moving images. She wanted to create stories with characters, drama, and scene changes. After witnessing the Lumière brothers’ groundbreaking Cinématographe, she was inspired to write and direct her own films. One of her first was “La Fée aux Choux” (“The Cabbage Fairy”) in 1896.

Born on July 1, 1873, in Paris, France, Alice Ida Antoinette Guy experienced a tough childhood that included moving between Chile and France and family tragedies. To help her family, she started working at 21 for Léon Gaumont, a key figure in early cinema. She quickly moved up to Head of Production at Gaumont’s company.

In 1907, Guy-Blaché married Herbert Blaché and moved to America, where they set up the Solax Company in New Jersey, a hub for filmmaking before Hollywood’s rise. She was a firm believer in women’s economic independence and took an active role in her company as president and director, producing over 700 films.

Guy-Blaché pushed boundaries in filmmaking, creating one of the first movies with sound and using special effects. She also tackled important social issues and cast diversely, including making one of the first films with an all-Black cast.

Eventually, as the film industry shifted to Hollywood, Solax faced financial difficulties. After her husband left, Guy-Blaché sold Solax, divorced, and returned to France with her children in 1922. She lived in the US later in life, finally receiving recognition for her pioneering work in cinema.