Alexandr Hackenschmied (17 December 1907, Linz - 26 July 2004, New York City) 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.
He changed his name to A...
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Alexandr Hackenschmied (17 December 1907, Linz - 26 July 2004, New York City) 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.
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 film, both as a director, cameraman and editor.
According to Jaroslav Andel's biography, Alexandr Hackenschmied, in 1930, Hackenschmied created his first film Bezucelna prochazka (Aimless Walk) which inaugurated the movement of avant-garde film in Czecholovakia. 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 -...
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