Deren, Maya

Maya Deren's immigrated to the United States with her parents, grew up mainly in Syracuse, New York, and attended Syracuse University. A social activist from her teens, she became interested in dance and then in filmmaking. Throughout the 1950s, until her death in 1961, Maya was a leading exponent of experimental cinema and considered one of the most influential artists. She traveled to Haiti in 1947, which led to the classic ethnographic study, Divine Horsemen. A two-hour documentary on her life and work was produced for BBC television in 1987.