movie world

There was a time in the last century where a woman ran her own studio, as Alice Guy Blache did when she began her Solax Film Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. On the West Coast, Lois Weber reigned as one of the top-earning directors of the 1910s. And in that time, Universal Studios once promoted the strength of their women-led workforce. One historian estimated that the scrappy studio north of Hollywood released some 170 movies from women directors from 1914-1919. For comparison, between 2007-2017, only 53 women directed a major studio release that cracked the list of top 100 movies at the box office.

Film fans, rejoice! The true history of the motion picture industry just got a bit more complete. The invaluable film distributor Kino Lorber has assembled a truly eye-opening collection of films from the silent era—all made by women. Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is a DVD/Blu-ray box set that presents more than 50 silent feature and short films (a total running time of 1,710 minutes) digitally mastered from 2k and 4K restorations from a variety of sources, including the Library of Congress, Academy Film Archives and the New York Women in Film & Television Preservation Fund.

6xBD50, 6xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC 16:9 | 1710 minutes | 272.7 Gb + 45.8 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English intertitles
Subtitles: none

Complete List of Directors and Films Included:

(* Blu-ray Only)

DISC ONE: ALICE GUY-BLACHE

• Mixed Pets [AM], Alice Guy Blache, 1911, 14.1 min.
• Tramp Strategy [AM], Alice Guy Blache, 1911, 12 min.
• Greater Love Hath No Man [AM], Alice Guy Blache, 1911, 16.25 min.
• Algie the Miner [AM], Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 10 min.
• Falling Leaves, Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 11.75 min.
• Little Rangers, The, Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 11.5 min.
• Canned Harmony, Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 16 min.
• Fool and His Money, A, Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 10.75 min.
• High Cost of Living, The, Alice Guy Blache, 1912, 14.5 min.
* Coming of Sunbeam, The [AM], Alice Guy Blache, 1913, 11.25 min.
* Burstup Homes' Murder Case, Alice Guy Blache, 1913, 14.75 min.
* A House Divided, Alice Guy Blache, 1913, 13.2 min.
• Matrimony's Speed Limit / NYWIFT, Alice Guy Blache, 1913, 14 min.
• Ocean Waif, The, Alice Guy Blache, 1916, 36.3 min.
• Colleen Bawn, The, Gauntier, Gene (sc), 1911, 35 min.
• On the Brink, Lois Weber, 1911, 12.5 min.
* Cricket, The, Wilson, Elsie Jane, 1917, 12 min.
• Introduction to Series, approx 13 min.
• Alice Guy-Blache documentary, approx 10 min.
• About the Restorations, approx 7 min.

DISC TWO: LOIS WEBER

• From Death to Life, Lois Weber, 1912, 13.75 min.
• Fine Feathers, Lois Weber, 1912, 15 min.
• Rosary, The, Lois Weber, 1913, 14.5 min.
• Suspense, Lois Weber, 1913, 11.25 min.
• Lost By a Hair, Lois Weber, 1914, 4 min.
• Hypocrites, Lois Weber, 1915, 51.5 min.
• Sunshine Molly, Lois Weber, 1915, 31.5 min.
• Idle Wives, Lois Weber, 1916, 23.5 min.
* Too Wise Wives, Lois Weber, 1921, 69.5 min.
• What Do Men Want?, Lois Weber, 1921, 40.75 min.
• Lois Weber documentary, approx 12 min.

DISC 3: GENRE PIONEERS

* Hazards of Helen Ep. 09: Leap From the Water Tower, Helen Holmes, 1915, 11 min.
• Hazards of Helen Ep.13: The Escape on the Fast Freight*, Helen Holmes, 1915, 11.25 min.
• Hazards of Helen Ep. 26: Wild Engine, The, Helen Holmes, 1915, 10.5 min.
* Purple Mask, The; Episode 5, Part 1, Grace Cunard, 1917, 13 min.
• Purple Mask, The: Episode 12 (Vault of Mystery), Grace Cunard, 1917, 19.5 min.
• Purple Mask, The; Episode 13, Part 1 (The Leap), Grace Cunard, 1917, 10.5 min.
• A Daughter of "The Law", Grace Cunard, 1921, 21.75 min.
• Eleanor's Catch, Madison, Cleo, 1916, 13.25 min.
• 49 - '17, Baldwin, Ruth Ann, 1917, 70.25 min.
• Caught in a Cabaret, Mabel Normand, 1914, 23.5 min.
• Mabel's Blunder, Mabel Normand, 1914, 16.5 min.
• Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day, Mabel Normand, 1916, 13 min.
* Mabel Lost and Won, Mabel Normand, 1915, 13.5 min.
• That Ice Ticket, Gibson, Angela Murray, 1923, 10 min.
• Ethnographic Films, Hurston, Zora Neale, 1929, 12.5 min.
• Mabel Normand documentary, approx 7 min.
• Serial Queens documentary, approx 7 min.

DISC 4: SOCIAL COMMENTARY 1

• Where Are My Children?, Lois Weber, 1916, 65 min.
• Her Defiance, Madison, Cleo, 1916, 21 min.
• When Little Lindy Sang, Warrenton, Lule, 1916, 10.25 min.
• Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingle with the West, Wong, Marion E., 1916, 35 min.
• Scandal (aka Scandal Mongers), Lois Weber, 1916, 35.5 min.
• Dream Lady, The, Wilson, Elsie Jane, 1918, 53.75 min.
* Something New, Shipman, Nell, 1920, 56.75 min.
• Social Commentary, approx 12 min.

DISC 5: SOCIAL COMMENTARY 2

• Risky Road, The, Park, Ida May, 1918, 2 min.
• Bread, Park, Ida May, 1918, 16 min.
• Salome, Nazimova, Alla, 1923, 71.5 min.
• Red Kimona , Davenport Reid, Dorothy, 1925, 77 min.
* Motherhood: Life's Greatest Miracle, Lawrence, Lita, 1925, 59.25 min.
• Linda, Davenport Reid, Dorothy, 1929, 73.25 min.

DISC 6: THE FEATURE FILM

• Call of the Cumberlands, The, Ivers, Julia Crawford, 1916, 64 min.
* Broadway Love, Park, Ida May, 1918, 61 min.
• Back to God's Country, Shipman, Nell, 1919, 73.5 min.
• Song of Love, The, Marion, Frances, 1923, 81 min.
• The End of an Era, approx 10 min.