Maya Deren

Director

Maya Deren

Born April 29, 1917 in Kyiv, UkraineDied October 13, 196114 films

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 choreographer, dancer, film theorist, poet, lecturer, writer and photographer.

Start here

The best way into Maya Deren's work
At Land posterFirst watchAt Land19447.2The film that best shows what their work is like.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.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Meshes of the Afternoon poster7.6Meshes of the Afternoon1943Ritual in Transfigured Time poster6.8Ritual in Transfigured Time1946A Study in Choreography for Camera poster5.9A Study in Choreography for Camera1945

Filmography

14 films as director
  1. 2006Cinema16: American Short FilmsDirector
  2. 2002Maya Deren - Experimental FilmsDirector
  3. 1993Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of HaitiDirector
  4. 1959Season of StrangersDirector
  5. 1958The Very Eye of NightDirector
  6. 1951Ensemble for SomnambulistsDirector
  7. 1949Meditation on ViolenceDirector
  8. 1949MedusaDirector
  9. 1946Ritual in Transfigured TimeDirector
  10. 1945A Study in Choreography for CameraDirector
  11. 1945A Study in Choreography for Camera - OuttakesDirector
  12. 1944At LandDirector
  13. 1944Witch's CradleDirector
  14. 1943Meshes of the AfternoonDirector