Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché is a 2018 documentary about the first female filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché, directed by Pamela B. Green. It was screened out of competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in the Cannes Classics category.[3] It was nominated for the festival's L'Œil d'or documentary prize.[4] Be Natural went on to screen at Telluride, Deauville American Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and London BFI Film Festival.
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy−Blaché | |
---|---|
Official poster | |
Directed by | Pamela B. Green |
Produced by |
|
Written by |
|
Narrated by | Jodie Foster |
Music by | Peter G. Adams |
Edited by | Pamela B. Green |
Production company | Be Natural Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes, (original cut) 103 minutes (final cut) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $175,287[1][2] |
Synopsis
Narrated by Jodie Foster, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché is a two-hour feature documentary investigating the full scope of the life and work of cinema's first female director, screenwriter, producer, and studio owner Alice Guy-Blaché.[5]
Production
The project was launched with a successful Kickstarter campaign, which prompted other crowdfunding opportunities.[6]
Critical response
Reviews for the version of the film screened at Cannes were generally positive, with Deadline's Pete Hammond claiming it to be perhaps "The Best (And Least-Seen) Film in Cannes."[7] Overall, critics positively reviewed the film. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 96% approval rating based on 46 reviews.[8] Reviewing for The Hollywood Reporter, Leslie Felperin considered that Be Natural "represents a timely contribution to the international conversation about the challenges facing women filmmakers while also boosting the reputation of someone who really should be better known by now as a role model. As a teaching and consciousness-raising tool, it will be an indispensable resource."[9] A. O. Scott for The New York Times wrote, "Be Natural is inspiring because it is also appalling."[10]
In a less positive review, Jay Weissberg wrote in Variety: "there's that title, The Untold Story, which ignores a number of earlier documentaries not to mention the significant amount of scholarship on pioneering filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché. ... These are what can be called inconvenient truths, for Pamela B. Green, director of Be Natural, is on a mission to discover why—supposedly—no one has ever heard of Alice Guy-Blaché."[11]
Be Natural premiered in the UK on January 17, 2020. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a 4 out of 5 star rating, calling it a "fascinating documentary."[12] He also picked Be Natural as one of his 10 best documentaries of 2020.[13] Gaby Wood of The Telegraph gave a positive review, calling it "gripping and poetic."[14] Danny Leigh of The Financial Times also gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "With timing both flawless and bleak, few films arrive feeling so vital as Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché."[15] In December, the film was named one of the 50 Best Films of 2020 in the UK by The Guardian [16]. The Guardian chief film critic Peter Bradshaw picked the film as one of his 10 favorite documentaries of 2020.[17]
Be Natural premiered in France on June 22, 2020. Véronique Cauhapé of Le Monde gave the film 4 out of 5 stars.[18]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Bangkok International Documentary Awards[19] | Best Feature Documentary | Won |
2020 | Monadnock International Film Festival[20] | Best Documentary Feature | Won |
2020 | FOCAL International Film Festival | Best Use of Footage in a Cinematic Feature for Be Natural
Jane Mercer Researcher of the Year Award for Be Natural |
Won |
2020 | FOCAL International Film Festival | Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production for Be Natural
Best Use of Footage in a History Feature for Be Natural Student Jury Award for Be Natural |
Nominated |
2020 | Vancouver International Women in Film Festival | Best Documentary | Won |
2019 | Clio Entertainment Award Silver Prize | Best Audio-Visual Technique in Motion Graphics | Won |
2019 | Critics' Choice Award | Best First Documentary Feature for Be Natural | Nominated |
2018 | Cannes Film Festival L'Oeil D'Or | Documentary | Nominated |
2018 | ADC Merit Award | Motion / Film Craft | Won |
In 2018, Be Natural was nominated for the Golden Eye Award at the Cannes Film Festival.[21]
On October 14, 2019, Be Natural was nominated for a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best First Documentary Feature.[22]
On October 23, 2019, Be Natural was nominated for a Clio Award for Theatrical: Audio/Visual Techniques in Motion Graphics.[23] It won the Silver at the awards ceremony on November 21, 2019.[24]
At the 2020 FOCAL International Awards, Be Natural was nominated for five awards and took home two for Best Use of Footage in a Cinematic Feature and the Jane Mercer Researcher of the Year Award.[25]
References
- "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2019)". The Numbers. IMDb. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blanché - Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- "2018 Competition". www.scam.fr.
- "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché - Film, Trailer, Kritik". www.kino-zeit.de. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- "Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- Hammond, Pete (May 14, 2018). "Why 'Be Natural', The Documentary About The First Female Director, May Be The Best (And Least-Seen) Film In Cannes". Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- "Be Natural - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
- "'Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache': Film Review - Cannes 2018". hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- Scott, A. O. (April 25, 2019). "'Be Natural' Review: Rescuing Alice Guy Blaché, a Film Pioneer, From Oblivion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
- Weissberg, Jay (31 May 2018). "Film Review: 'Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché'". variety.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
- Bradshaw, Peter (2020-01-15). "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché review – paean to a movie pioneer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- "The 2020 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw's film picks of the year". the Guardian. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- Wood, Gaby (2020-01-17). "How we forgot Alice Guy-Blaché, cinema's first female director". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
- Leigh, Danny (January 15). "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché - a woman who reshaped cinema". Financial Times. Check date values in:
|date=
(help) - "The 50 best films of 2020 in the UK: 50-10". the Guardian. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
- "The 2020 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw's film picks of the year". the Guardian. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- "« Be Natural, l'histoire cachée d'Alice Guy-Blaché » : hommage à une pionnière oubliée du cinéma". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- "BKKDOC 2020 Official Selection". www.bkkdoc.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- admin (2020-09-25). "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché". MONIFF. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- "BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
- Hammond, Pete (2019-10-14). "'Biggest Little Farm', Peter Jackson, 'Apollo 11′ Top Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
- "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché - Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché". Clios. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
- "Clio Entertainment Winners". Clios. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- "Awards Programme / Nominations 2020". FOCAL Awards 2020. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-10-22.