The first director ever was a woman — and Hollywood buried her.
There were more women directors before 1920 than at any other time in history. The first director to put a narrative story on celluloid was, Alice Guy Blaché in 1896. Few people know that Lillian Gish became a director in her own right in 1920. Ida Lupino directed over a hundred episodes of "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Thriller," "Gunsmoke," and many independent features.
Direction
Acker's archival detective work resurrects forgotten masters.
Production
Rare footage of Lillian Gish and Ida Lupino directing.
Director
Ally Acker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ally Acker spent years tracking down decaying prints and personal archives after studios discarded most early female-directed films as 'worthless.'
This documentary predates the #MeToo and Times Up movements by nearly a decade, yet its thesis—that Hollywood actively constructed a 'director = male' mythology—became central to those later reckonings.
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