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 byPamela B. Green
Produced by
  • Pamela B. Green
  • Cosima Littlewood
  • Joan Simon
Written by
  • Pamela B. Green
  • Joan Simon
Narrated byJodie Foster
Music byPeter G. Adams
Edited byPamela B. Green
Production
company
Be Natural Productions
Release date
  • May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11) (Cannes)
  • April 19, 2019 (2019-04-19) (Theatrical release)
Running time
120 minutes, (original cut)
103 minutes (final cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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
  1. "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  2. "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2019)". The Numbers. IMDb. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  3. "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.
  4. "2018 Competition". www.scam.fr.
  5. "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.
  6. "Be Natural: The untold story of Alice Guy-Blaché". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  7. 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.
  8. "Be Natural - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  9. "'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.
  10. 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.
  11. Weissberg, Jay (31 May 2018). "Film Review: 'Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché'". variety.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  12. 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.
  13. "The 2020 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw's film picks of the year". the Guardian. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  14. 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.
  15. 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)
  16. "The 50 best films of 2020 in the UK: 50-10". the Guardian. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  17. "The 2020 Braddies go to … Peter Bradshaw's film picks of the year". the Guardian. 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  18. "« 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.
  19. "BKKDOC 2020 Official Selection". www.bkkdoc.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  20. admin (2020-09-25). "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché". MONIFF. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  21. "BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  22. Hammond, Pete (2019-10-14). "'Biggest Little Farm', Peter Jackson, 'Apollo 11′ Top Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  23. "Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché - Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché". Clios. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  24. "Clio Entertainment Winners". Clios. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  25. "Awards Programme / Nominations 2020". FOCAL Awards 2020. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
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