Huh! I wonder how Deren did this. Is it just inverted film stock?

But if so, why are so many of their faces so dark while their bodies are almost totally white? So it can’t be that… is it infrared or something? And they all have a pound of makeup on their faces so their faces become kinda blackface?

Huh:

Made in collaboration with Metropolitan Opera Ballet School,[5] the film was shot in black-and-white in the 16 mm format, and is projected as photographed in the negative.

So… were their bodies painted black, but their faces weren’t?

Anyway, it’s a gripping short.

The Very Eye of Night. Maya Deren. 1955. ⚅

The images in this short seem so fresh — it’s hard to believe that it’s from 1944. If I were presented this movie without any context, I would have guessed that it’s a modern movie made to look old, you know?

And I wonder whether Bergman ever saw this.

Anyway, it’s kinda enthralling.

At Land. Maya Deren. 1944. ⚄

This is very brief (just two minutes) but really cool.

A Study in Choreography for Camera. Maya Deren. 1945. ⚄