Monty Python - Hairdressers Expedition on Everest. The 50 SF Books You Must Read @ Forbidden Planet - StumbleUpon. Kenneth Anger. Maya Deren. Maya Deren (April 29, 1917 – October 13, 1961), born Eleanora Derenkowskaia (Russian: Элеоно́ра Деренко́вская), 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. Perhaps one of the most influential experimental films in American cinema was her collaboration with Alexander Hammid on Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). She continued to make several more films of her own, including At Land (1944), A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945), and Ritual in Transfigured Time (1946) – writing, producing, directing, editing, and photographing them with help from only one other person, Hella Heyman, as camerawoman.
She also appeared in a few of her films but never credited herself as an actress, downplaying her roles as anonymous figures rather than iconic deities. Early life[edit] College[edit] Early career[edit] Jan Švankmajer. Jan Švankmajer (Czech: [ˈjan ˈʃvaŋkmajɛr]; born 4 September 1934) is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay, and many others.[1] Life and career[edit] Jan Švankmajer was born in Prague. An early influence on his later artistic development was a puppet theatre he was given for Christmas as a child. He studied at the College of Applied Arts in Prague and later in the Department of Puppetry at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He contributed to Emil Radok's film Doktor Faust in 1958 and then began working for Prague's Semafor Theatre where he founded the Theatre of Masks.
He then moved on to the Laterna Magika multimedia theatre, where he renewed his association with Radok. His next project is called Insects (Hmyz).[6] It has a projected budget of 40 million CZK and a preliminary release set to 2015.