Before DW Griffith made a name for narrative film, French-born Alice Guy-Blanché was a film pioneer both as a director and American movie mogul.
Here is the trailer for “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” directed by Pamela B. Green:
Alice Guy-Blanché was inspired by the work of the Lumieres brothers while working for Gaumont, a camera maker in France. While the first films at the time were a popular novelty, even as a simple recording medium. Guy-Blanché had the foresight to incorporate fictional story-telling elements into the filmmaking.
From 1896 onward she experimented with color tinting, synchronous sound on film, interracial casting, and special effects. When she moved to New York Guy-Blanché founded a film studio in New Jersey in 1912. Before Hollywood, New Jersey was the U.S. filmmaking capital. She made the film ‘A Fool and His Money’ with an all-African-American cast.
Alice Guy-Blanché was among the first to make a narrative fiction film, and the first woman on record to direct a film. According to Britannica, she directed almost 50 films and supervised 300 others.