“Dorothy Arzner: A Retrospective” at UCLA Film & Television Archive, July 31-September 18, 2015

From July 31, 2015 through September 18, 2015, the UCLA Film & Television Archive is celebrating the work of film pioneer Dorothy Arzner with a retrospective.

“This retrospective features six Archive restorations of Arzner’s work, which have helped to spur scholarship into and retrospectives of the director’s remarkable achievements.  The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television is also proud to claim Arzner as a former professor.  A remarkable and nearly unique figure in American film history, Arzner forged a career characterized by an individual worldview, and a strong, recognizable voice.  She was also, not incidentally, the sole female director in the studio era to sustain a directing career, working in that capacity for nearly two decades and helming 20 features—conspicuously, still a record in Hollywood.  Distinguished as a storyteller with penetrating insight into women’s perspectives and experiences, Arzner herself emphatically made the point that only a woman could offer such authority and authenticity.  At a time when the marginalization of women directors in the American film establishment is still actively debated, we celebrate Dorothy Arzner, and the Archive’s long association with her legacy.”– UCLA Film & Television Archive’s website.

For recent press on the series, see The Wall Street Journal’s article “In Praise of Film Pioneer Dorothy Arzner” and The Los Angeles Times‘ “Dorothy Arzner is the focus of a retrospective by UCLA Film and Television Archive.”