Alexander Hammid

DirectorActorProducerWriter

Alexander Hammid born Alexandr Hackenschmied (17 December 1907, Linz – 26 July 2004, New York City) was a leading photographer, film director, cinematographer and editor in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. He is best known known for his film, Crisis (1939), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and To Be Alive!(1964). He made Meshes of the Afternoon, with his wife Maya Deren—to whom he was married from 1942 to 1947. He won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for To Be Alive! (1964), which he co-directed with Francis Thompson.

17-12-1907

Birthday

Sagittarius

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Alexander Hackenschmied, Sasha Hammitt, Sasha Hammid, Alexander Siegfried George Hackenschmied

Also known as (male)

Linz, Austria

Place of Birth

17-12-1907

Birthday

Sagittarius

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Alexandr Hackenschmied, Alexander Hackenschmied, Sasha Hammitt, Sasha Hammid

Also Known As (male)

Linz, Austria

Place of Birth

Popular works

Media

Creative career

actor

7 Works

producer

3 Works

director

64 Works

writer

4 Works

other

31 Works

Maya Deren, Take Zero

This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.

5.0

Year:

2012

In the Mirror of Maya Deren

Documentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film movement of the 1940s.

7.4

Year:

2002

Maya Deren - Experimental Films

The collected shorts of Maya Deren the "Mother of the trance film" who worked completely outside the commercial film industry and made her own inner experience the center of her films.The collected shorts of Maya Deren the "Mother of the trance film" who worked completely outside the commercial film industry and made her own inner experience the center of her films.

0.0

Year:

2002

Aimless Walk - Alexander Hammid

We accompany the 90-year-old filmmaker Alexander Hammid on a stroll through New York, wandering with him through the outer and inner landscapes of his world. The observation of details takes on a meditative character.

5.0

Year:

1997

Invocation: Maya Deren

Maya Deren is a legend of avant-garde cinema. This authoritative biography of the charismatic filmmaker, poet and anthropologist features excerpts from her pioneering Meshes of the Afternoon and her unfinished documentary on Haiti, interviews with Stan Brakhage and Jonas Mekas, and recordings of her lectures. Narrated by actress Helen Mirren, this definitive documentary offers startling insights into one of the most intriguing, accomplished figures in cinema history.

5.0

Year:

1986

At Land

A dream-like narrative in which a woman (Deren), is washed up on a beach and goes on a strange journey, a quest for personal identity, encountering other people and other versions of herself.

7.3

Year:

1944

Meshes of the Afternoon

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

7.7

Year:

1943