Alexander Hammid

Biography

Alexander Hammid born Alexandr Hackenschmied (17 December 1907, Linz – 26 July 2004, New York City) was a leading photographer, film director, cinematographer and editor in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. He is best known known for his film, Crisis (1939), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and To Be Alive!(1964). He made Meshes of the Afternoon, with his wife Maya Deren—to whom he was married from 1942 to 1947. He won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for To Be Alive! (1964), which he co-directed with Francis Thompson.

Directed

1. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) — Director
2. The Private Life of a Cat (1946) — Director
3. Aimless Walk (1930) — Director
4. To Be Alive! (1964) — Director
5. Hymn of the Nations (1944) — Director
6. Night Journey (1960) — Director
7. Library of Congress (1945) — Director
8. The Forgotten Village (1941) — Director
9. Angry Boy (1950) — Director
10. The Prague Castle (1931) — Director
11. Crisis (1939) — Director
12. Marriage: Today (1950) — Director
13. Of Men and Music (1951) — Director
14. The Valley of the Tennessee (1944) — Director
15. A Better Tomorrow (1945) — Director
16. Martha Graham: Dance on Film (2007) — Director
17. Maya Deren - Experimental Films (2002) — Director
18. To the Fair! (1964) — Director
19. It Takes All Kinds (1950) — Director
20. Who's Boss? (1950) — Director
21. Who's Right? (1954) — Director
22. We Are Young (1967) — Director
23. The Gentleman in Room 6 (1951) — Director
24. Power Among Men (1959) — Director
25. The Highway Sings (1937) — Director
26. The River of Life and Death (1941) — Director
27. School Assignment (1935) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) — The Man
2. At Land (1944)
3. In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2002) — Himself
4. Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film (2011) — Himself (archive footage)
5. Invocation: Maya Deren (1986) — Himself (as Sasha Hammid)
6. Aimless Walk - Alexander Hammid (1997) — Himself
7. Maya Deren, Take Zero (2012) — Himself
8. Maya Deren - Experimental Films (2002)