jan 15, 1896 - The first director

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In 1896 'The cabbage fairy' directed by Alice Guy-Blanché came out. Despite the misconception that 'The great train robbery' was the first narrative fiction film, 'The cabbage fairy' was actually the first. She made over 1000 films and the only woman to this day who owned and ran her own film studio, she experimented with sound syncing, colour tinting, special effects, interracial casting, going out on location and speaking out politically about woman's rights. She was the first real director and story teller.

She was the first proper cinema pioneer, she is described as "a French film pioneer who invented the director's job." because in the early days of moviemaking, long before there was a film industry, everyone was just making it up as they went along, whereas Guy-Blaché crafted stories, she shaped what it meant to be a director and it's defining role today.

In film history, her legacy is often pushed aside, she was working and creating well before film makers like the Lumière brothers and DW Griffith. It's interesting that one of the most underrepresented field of work for woman is a director and the first ever one was in fact, a woman.

Martin Scorsese gave her the Director's Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award, saying: "It is the hope and intention of the DGA that by presenting this posthumous special directorial award for lifetime achievement, the Guild can both raise awareness of an exceptional director and bring greater recognition to the role of women in film history."

Today a director is probably one of the most important roles in creating a good film, having a great, well crafted story is what makes a film excellent, she saw the potential of filmmaking and the power one could have over telling a story through this medium.

Her achievements stand alone as impressive, but the fact she was a woman at this time, achieving and working independently with a whole world against her, would have set up an even bigger hurdle for her to jump, especially as she is even to this day often unheard of and rarely credited. Never the less her dedication and pioneering creativity will go down in history as a true inspiration and milestone for filmmakers, especially female film makers.

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