1912 in Film: The Centennial of Solax Studio and a Celebration of Our Reel Jersey Girl, Alice Guy Blanché

Alice Guy-Blanché was a French pioneer filmmaker who was the first female director in the motion picture industry and is considered to be one of the first directors of a fiction film. Solax Production, her motion picture studio, was founded in 1912 the same year the Mahwah Public Library was founded. Solax Studios was the largest pre-Hollywood studio in America. She has a more personal connection to Mahwah as she died in Mahwah in 1968 and is buried in Maryrest Cemetery. Alice Guy-Blanché is the first female film maker and is responsible for creating one of the first narrative films in 1896. Guy’s career of 24 years of directing, writing and producing films is the longest career of any cinema pioneers. From 1896 to 1920, Guy directed over 400 films, 22 of these films are feature length features. Guy was and still is the only woman to ever manage and own her own studio, The Solax Company. This program is free. No tickets are necessary. Seats are on a “first come” basis.