Alexandr Hackenschmied
Encyclopedia
Alexandr Hackenschmied was a leading photographer and filmmaker in Czechoslovakia
between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. His film, Meshes of the Afternoon
, which he made with filmmaker Maya Deren
-- to whom he was married from 1942 to 1947 -- has become an icon of avant-garde
cinema in the U.S.
, both as a director, cameraman, and editor.
According to Jaroslav Andel's biography of Hackenschmied, in 1930, Hackenschmied created his first film Bezúčelná procházka (Aimless Walk) which inaugurated the movement of avant-garde film in Czechoslovakia. The same year he also organized the Exhibition of New Czech Photography in the Aventinska Mansarda -- a showcase for artists of the Aventinum publishing house in Prague
-- and the first show of European avant-garde film in the Kotva Cinema, also in Prague. He also published a number of articles on photography and film, in which he formulated the new aesthetics of both fields.
Before emigrating from Czechoslovakia, Hackenschmied worked for the Bata Film Studio in Zlín, founded by Jan Antonín Baťa
in the 1930s who hired young filmmakers and artists to develop modern films, primarily for advertising. While employed there, Hackenschmied made numerous advertising and documentary films, one of the most famous was directed by Elmar Klos in 1937, entitled The Highway Sings, showing auto tires in motion.
During the late 1930s he collaborated with the American filmmaker Herbert Kline on the feature-length documentary
Crisis
(1939
) and moved to the USA where he met and worked with Deren on her first film Meshes of the Afternoon
(1943
). He also directed the documentaries The Forgotten Village
(1941
), The Valley of the Tennessee (1944
), and A Better Tomorrow (1945
). Hammid also made the 22-minute short The Private Life of a Cat (1947
) while married to Deren and shot entirely in their Morton Street apartment in Manhattan. This short film was part narrative, part documentary about cats and their daily lives. The film starts off with two cats, a male and a female. The female is eventually impregnated by the male cat, and begins to search for shelter for when she gives birth to her kittens. The film shows her giving birth to five kittens in graphic detail.
In 1944, he directed a documentary featuring conductor Arturo Toscanini
, Hymn of the Nations
, produced by the Office of War Information. His documentary Library of Congress (1945) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Documentary. Through the 50's and 60's Hammid made documentaries. In 1951, Hackenschmied and Gian Carlo Menotti
co-directed the film version of Menotti's opera The Medium
.
In 1964, Hammid directed his final film, To Be Alive!
. which was shown at the 1964 New York World's Fair
and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short in 1965.
Hammid worked in partnership with filmmaker Francis Thompson (1908-2003) for over 25 years, producing numerous “in-house” documentaries as well as several films for general viewership. One of the most notable of these is the first IMAX
format film, TO FLY! which premiered at the Smithsonian Institution
’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) at the museum’s grand opening celebration on July 1, 1976. Produced in conjunction with MacGillivray Freeman Films, it continues to play regularly at the Air and Space Museum.
During his years with Francis Thompson, Inc. Hammid went on to be involved with several other early Imax films. Graham Ferguson, owner of the Imax Corp. (speaking at Francis Thompson’s memorial service in 2004) recalled how he had wanted Hammid and Thompson to make the first commercial Imax films because of their extensive work in earlier large-scale multi-screen films including To Be Alive! (which won an Oscar after being shown at the New York World's Fair
in 1964), We Are Young (on six screens for the Montreal World's Fair/Expo 67
in 1967) and US (for San Antonio's Hemisfair in 1969).
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. His film, Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a...
, which he made with filmmaker Maya Deren
Maya Deren
Maya Deren , born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s...
-- to whom he was married from 1942 to 1947 -- has become an icon of avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
cinema in the U.S.
Career in Czechoslovakia and the U.S.
He changed his name to Alexander Hammid when he became a citizen of the United States in 1942. He is best-known for his work in documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, both as a director, cameraman, and editor.
According to Jaroslav Andel's biography of Hackenschmied, in 1930, Hackenschmied created his first film Bezúčelná procházka (Aimless Walk) which inaugurated the movement of avant-garde film in Czechoslovakia. The same year he also organized the Exhibition of New Czech Photography in the Aventinska Mansarda -- a showcase for artists of the Aventinum publishing house in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
-- and the first show of European avant-garde film in the Kotva Cinema, also in Prague. He also published a number of articles on photography and film, in which he formulated the new aesthetics of both fields.
Before emigrating from Czechoslovakia, Hackenschmied worked for the Bata Film Studio in Zlín, founded by Jan Antonín Baťa
Jan Antonín Bata
Jan Antonín Baťa was a Czech shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště , brother of Tomáš Baťa....
in the 1930s who hired young filmmakers and artists to develop modern films, primarily for advertising. While employed there, Hackenschmied made numerous advertising and documentary films, one of the most famous was directed by Elmar Klos in 1937, entitled The Highway Sings, showing auto tires in motion.
During the late 1930s he collaborated with the American filmmaker Herbert Kline on the feature-length documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Crisis
Crisis (1939 film)
Crisis is a feature-length documentary about the 1938 Sudeten Crisis. It was released briefly before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia on March 15th, 1939. The film was directed by Herbert Kline, Hans Burger, and Alexander Hammid, with narration written by Vincent Sheean and read by Leif...
(1939
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) and moved to the USA where he met and worked with Deren on her first film Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a...
(1943
1943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
). He also directed the documentaries The Forgotten Village
The Forgotten Village
The Forgotten Village is an American documentary film -- some sources call it an ethnofiction film -- directed by Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid, written by John Steinbeck, and narrated by Burgess Meredith...
(1941
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
), The Valley of the Tennessee (1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
), and A Better Tomorrow (1945
1945 in film
The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
). Hammid also made the 22-minute short The Private Life of a Cat (1947
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) while married to Deren and shot entirely in their Morton Street apartment in Manhattan. This short film was part narrative, part documentary about cats and their daily lives. The film starts off with two cats, a male and a female. The female is eventually impregnated by the male cat, and begins to search for shelter for when she gives birth to her kittens. The film shows her giving birth to five kittens in graphic detail.
In 1944, he directed a documentary featuring conductor Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
, Hymn of the Nations
Hymn of the Nations
Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations , is a film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early-1860s...
, produced by the Office of War Information. His documentary Library of Congress (1945) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Documentary. Through the 50's and 60's Hammid made documentaries. In 1951, Hackenschmied and Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
co-directed the film version of Menotti's opera The Medium
The Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...
.
In 1964, Hammid directed his final film, To Be Alive!
To Be Alive!
To Be Alive! is a 1964 short documentary film co-directed by Francis Thompson and Alexander Hammid. The film is notable for its use of a multi-screen format and for winning the Academy Award in 1966 for Documentary Short Subject....
. which was shown at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short in 1965.
Hammid worked in partnership with filmmaker Francis Thompson (1908-2003) for over 25 years, producing numerous “in-house” documentaries as well as several films for general viewership. One of the most notable of these is the first IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
format film, TO FLY! which premiered at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) at the museum’s grand opening celebration on July 1, 1976. Produced in conjunction with MacGillivray Freeman Films, it continues to play regularly at the Air and Space Museum.
During his years with Francis Thompson, Inc. Hammid went on to be involved with several other early Imax films. Graham Ferguson, owner of the Imax Corp. (speaking at Francis Thompson’s memorial service in 2004) recalled how he had wanted Hammid and Thompson to make the first commercial Imax films because of their extensive work in earlier large-scale multi-screen films including To Be Alive! (which won an Oscar after being shown at the New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
in 1964), We Are Young (on six screens for the Montreal World's Fair/Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
in 1967) and US (for San Antonio's Hemisfair in 1969).
See also
- Book: Michael Omasta (ed.): Tribute to Sasha (Vienna: SYNEMA, 2002) (German/English)
- Documentary Film: Aimless Walk: Alexander Hammid (1996, 48 minutes) directed by Martina Kudlacek