life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon

finally got around to watching some maya deren this past weekend. why i kept putting it off is beyond me- truly amazing work! maya was an extraordinary filmaker, writer, and all around inspiration to those who were fortunate enough to be in her presence. she grew up in the ukraine till the age of 5 then with her family moved to the u.s. from an early age she was vivacious, loud, and very outspoken. carrying this bravado and spark to her studies at Smith college she received a master's in english lit. after working as a secretary for a dance company she started to develop an interest in filmmaking. her first films dealt with light, mirrors, and water and there relation to the human body and movement. down the road she received a guggenheim grant which she used to travel to haiti for research and to film. thus embarking on several sojourns to shed light on voodoo practices, and rhythmic drumming/dancing prevalent within haitian culture and religion. she shot countless hours of footage only to end up writing a book: divine horsemen: the living gods of haiti.




one of her last films the very eye of night, is simply gorgeous and mesmerizing: