Maya Deren

Known for: Meshes of the Afternoon (1943); American avant-garde cinema

Maya Deren made Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), co-directed with Alexander Hammid, one of the first avant-garde American films to receive sustained critical attention, and became a central figure in the postwar independent cinema movement before her death at 44. She used loop editing, slow motion, and double exposure to create a dreamlike temporal experience without precedent in American film. She was the first filmmaker to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship.