In the Mirror of Maya Deren

With In The Mirror Of Maya Deren, documentary filmmaker Martina Kudlacek has fashioned not only fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking and influential artist, but a pitch-perfect introduction to her strikingly beautiful and poetic body of work. Crowned "Fellini and Bergman wrapped in one gloriously possessed body" by the L.A. Weekly, Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema. Using locations from the Hollywood hills to Haiti, Deren made such mesmerizing films as At Land, Ritual In Transfigured Time and her masterpiece Meshes of the Afternoon. This film celebrates the life of the celebrated pioneer of avant-garde cinema, whose short films remain seminal pieces in the experimental canon. Deren, who died in 1961 at the age of 44, is discussed by Jonas Mekas and Deren's former husband, Alexander Hammid.