Silent Women
For many decades women cinéastes were swept into oblivion. At long last their visual artistry has been brought back to the light, but what would happen if some of their tattered audio recordings were found? What would each one tell us about her life and work? The intent of this collection of poems is to give a voice to some female filmmakers of the silent era, 21 like our current century, and to trigger in listeners the desire to find more about them. Each terza rima poem is introduced with music by a female composer of the same country of the filmmaker, who might have listened to her composition while at work. Written and recited by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi Sound editing by Massimo Privitera (Musicologist, Founding Director of Colonne Sonore magazine, and longtime friend)
Episodes
While other voices have been kept sealed too long
This is why we should have a united front
Nineteenth century France is where I belong
Though I worked and lived also in the U.S.
My passion for moving pictures was so strong
That my first narrative film was a success
The Cabbage Patch Fairy even had sequels
But I must start from my birth to then progress
Emile and Marie Guy were no rebels
I was their fif...
My family was middle-class and Christian
Toiling young in missions became my chisel
For social justice in my work of fiction
They called it an unladylike profession
The craft of moving picture composition
Before that music was my one obsession
I was a pianist, organist and singer
When I reached New York I made the progression
The musical comedies made me linger
In the company of dear Philips Sma...
To handle filmmaking through a non-white lens?
For women like myself there was no Klondike
I later achieved endurance through my friends
I was born in the South East, in Kentucky
Robert and Leuvenia were loving parents
When we moved to Kansas we all felt lucky
But rainbows were different for those like us
A darker shade of pale was seen as mucky
Black migrants as my kin were Exodusters
Quite soo...
I defied conventions of motion pictures
I went from Britain to the Adriatic Sea
The Ottoman and Balkan troops were hotspurs
I captured the war on a plate camera
Mr. Newman made it for my bold transfers
My Papa was General in Rumelia
Uncle and aunt were newspaper editors
I was a war reporter of my era
I was armed to shield myself from predators
It was not all fun and games, yet feats were swell
By chance ...
I used that style before those male filmmakers
Some say my work was a sort of activism
First Italian female cineaste of shakers
Actress, writer, producer, distributor
I most preferred non-professional actors
My scenes portrayed the humble, mundane factor
Village festivals, iris shots, cross-fades
I also recreated deviant behaviour
Form and reverie came from the female gaze
Why should a lady settl...
My home was enveloped by the mountainous zone
Do not envision me within a relais
I lived in the city were Klimt’s kiss was blown
The Hofburg, the Philarmonic and Demel
Are parts of my dear hometown that are well-known
But the Stadtpanoptikum was just as well
My father was the founder of this Kohlmarkt
Where people could see living pictures and dwell
I helped as I could, at the cashier I worked
I fe...
Silhouette animation was my bailiwick
Black-cut characters emerged in shadow play
I mastered how to scherenschnitte real quick
In youth I was Charlotte from Charlottenburg
At my open-air school I never got sick
Tuberculosis had recently occurred
Thus, the best therapy was sun-kissed fresh air
Hence, my inspiration took flight like a bird
Chinese shadow puppetry made me aware
Of the potential of thes...
My family was of classe moyenne supérieur
We were quite close to Jules Verne’s infrastructures
Our genealogy was Saisset-Schneider
I left Amiens for Paris with my granny
Journalism I confronted with great ardeur
Writing about feminism was uncanny
For others, but it was my bread and butter
I loved covering cinematography
I was an assertive dàme, not a nutter
La Française and La Fronde were my outlets
...
My family worked in the theatre always
I sang and performed from a very young age
I was quite determined, never in a daze
The Netherlands was my place of expression
My life was articulate in many ways
Three husbands, some kids, and show-biz accession
I even lived in Pretoria for a time
I enjoyed an effective working session
Eureka, the movie company, was mine
My son André was at the head of management
Li...
And became its first female director
My art was declined by various creations
The passion for acting at first was greater
I tread on several stages as a thespian
I studied at the Moscow Art Theatre
My repertoire covered all that was Russian
The Keys To Happiness was my screen debut
My directorial shift triggered discussion
In 1916 I had a big breakthrough
My film was praised, unlike my identity
M...
I chose to diminutise Antonina
I was Nina Niovilla for history
In my country I was a film tsarina
The press named me the ‘Polish Germaine Dulac’
Translating plays was my starting arena
The Weimar Republic was still on full track
When I had my directorial film debut
My early works patriotism would unpack
In one I showed the Battle of Lemberg coup
I further used a ballad by Mickiewicz
Even the cabaret-act...
From the silent era of motion pictures
Not my name comes to mind at first, but others
The work of Anna Hofman-Uddgren flickers
And the one of Karin Swanström emerges too
I was the pioneer amongst these figures
In 1910 a classic I would renew
Värmlänningarna is a rooted story
Born from Fredrik August Dahlgren’s point of view
That screen-adaptation was my sole glory
I acted and directed The Warmland...
My family background was all artistic
Therefore performing on stage is what I chose
With my two dear sisters I was altruistic
The Hermanas Cortesina were a force
We were a team, never antagonistic
Isadora Duncan influenced my course
Showing my semi-nude body wrapped by veils
The crowds my sculpted silhouette would endorse
The Venus Valenciana made ticket sales
I modeled for an illustrious painter
Joaquín S...
Yet the name that made me known was another
Being Mimí Derba was the cause of my mirth
It was inspired by a vigorous other
Someone compared me to this energy drink
It was fitting for all, even my mother
I always felt different and at the brink
I found the frivolous theatre profound
Sharing social criticism without a blink
Thus, acting in these plays took me off the ground
I started as a Zarzuela perform...
I was the first Chilean female director
Through time this role turned into a phantom limb
In fact, I became a prolific writer
The picture show is where I moved my first steps
I then was journalist, playwright and author
The one movie I directed was complex
I also wrote the script, whilst my husband helped
With photography and editing effects
Salvador Giambastiani in Chile dwelt
My dear spouse was a...
That is who I was, am and will always be
I was overtly driven by my strong will
I debuted behind the camera with glee
My film O Mistério do Dominó Preto
Was a silent picture and not a talkie
A sound-movie had been done here, I do know
Acabaram-se os Otários was it
A couple of years prior to my film-show
First I was a small-town girl, not a misfit
Born Jacyra Martins da Silveira
I left Amparo for São Paulo,...
The Emerald City is where I was born
I was considered as a child of wonder
My artistic aptitude was not timeworn
In the suburb of Drummoyne I grew with bliss
Third of seven kids, I was never forlorn
With my family, plays I would never miss
Dad was surgeon for the theatre circle
Attending weekly soirées I reminisce
Aussie motion pictures became my portal
I formed a trio with two of my sisters
Phyllis as...
First I was Mofeda Mohamed Ghoneim
My humble origins were no dream breaker
My status and life would have changed in due time
Damietta, Alexandria, Cairo
Are the places were I spent most of my prime
Being a female artist could bring sorrow
My nation would shun women of performance
With the revolution, minds were less narrow
I changed name for theatrical conformance
It preserved the family reputation
Yo...
Is how I’ll be known when I’m with the resters
Our industry began before Hollywood
In 1899 we had The Wrestlers
In Old California arrived much later
I was with the Indian cinema settlers
I pursued a career path as a dream maker
I was from an Urdu-Muslim family
I was very hardworking, not a faker
They tried to tie my name to some calumny
Claiming I married the Sachin State ruler
No records of this exis...
Who actually made movies in China
Marion E. Wong shared my descent and sector
Her pictures were made in California
To Americans our culture she unveiled
While I shaped the cinema form in Zhongguo
The Shanghai Shadow Play Company I nailed
It was founded by Dan Duyu, my mentor
Working as one of his actresses prevailed
The Shen Bao press praised my expressive ardour
Working for Li Jiran truly change...
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