Directing

Maya Deren

Born 1917-04-29

Kyiv, Ukraine

Department: Directing

Biography

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.

Known For

Prominent works featuring Maya Deren

Movie

Quick View

Meshes of the Afternoon

1943

TMDB3.8

Movie

Quick View

At Land

1944

TMDB3.6

Movie

Quick View

A Study in Choreography for Camera

1945

TMDB3.0

Movie

Quick View

Ritual in Transfigured Time

1946

TMDB3.5

Movie

Quick View

Witch's Cradle

1944

TMDB3.4

Movie

Quick View

The Private Life of a Cat

1946

TMDB3.6

Movie

Quick View

The Very Eye of Night

1958

TMDB3.0

Movie

Quick View

Meditation on Violence

1949

TMDB2.9

Movie

Quick View

In the Mirror of Maya Deren

2002

TMDB3.8

Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti

Movie

Quick View

Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti

1993

TMDB3.0

Filmography & Credits

Complete career catalog (44 titles)

Title	Character / Role	Type	Year
Alter Ego Film Project	Original Film Writer	Movie	2024
Vever (For Barbara)	Sound	Movie	2023
Vever (For Barbara)	Writer	Movie	2023
Maya Deren, Take Zero	Herself	Movie	2012
Maya Deren, Take Zero	Music	Movie	2012
Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film	Herself (archive footage)	Movie	2011
Maya Deren's Sink	Herself (archival footage)	Movie	2011
Cinema16: American Short Films	Director	Movie	2006
In the Mirror of Maya Deren	Herself	Movie	2002
Maya Deren - Experimental Films	Self / Appearance	Movie	2002
Maya Deren - Experimental Films	Cinematography	Movie	2002
Maya Deren - Experimental Films	Director	Movie	2002
Maya Deren - Experimental Films	Editor	Movie	2002
Maya Deren - Experimental Films	Writer	Movie	2002
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti	Director	Movie	1993
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti	Director of Photography	Movie	1993
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti	Book	Movie	1993
Invocation: Maya Deren	Herself (archive footage)	Movie	1986
Season of Strangers	Director	Movie	1959
The Very Eye of Night	Director	Movie	1958
The Very Eye of Night	Editor	Movie	1958
The Very Eye of Night	Cinematography	Movie	1958
The Very Eye of Night	Writer	Movie	1958
Ensemble for Somnambulists	Director	Movie	1951
Ensemble for Somnambulists	Writer	Movie	1951
Ensemble for Somnambulists	Producer	Movie	1951
Meditation on Violence	Director	Movie	1949
Meditation on Violence	Writer	Movie	1949
Meditation on Violence	Cinematography	Movie	1949
Medusa	Director	Movie	1949
The Private Life of a Cat	Producer	Movie	1946
The Private Life of a Cat	Co-Director	Movie	1946
Ritual in Transfigured Time	Self / Appearance	Movie	1946
Ritual in Transfigured Time	Director	Movie	1946
A Study in Choreography for Camera	Director	Movie	1945
A Study in Choreography for Camera - Outtakes	Director	Movie	1945
At Land	Self / Appearance	Movie	1944
At Land	Director	Movie	1944
At Land	Writer	Movie	1944
Witch's Cradle	Director	Movie	1944
Meshes of the Afternoon	The Woman	Movie	1943
Meshes of the Afternoon	Director	Movie	1943
Meshes of the Afternoon	Editor	Movie	1943
Meshes of the Afternoon	Writer	Movie	1943