Shirley Clarke

Director | Writer

Date of birth : 10/02/1919

Date of death : 09/23/1997

City of birth : New York City, New York, USA

“I was embarrassed for years to let anyone know I had won an Academy Award.That wasn’t really a prize I wanted to win.” Known as a revolutionary of independent cinema, Shirley Clarke was an American director who crossed the boundaries between documentary and fiction, even mixing them with video art, to establish herself as a key figure in the New American Cinema, a movement that challenged the supremacy of Hollywood in the 1960s. With an unique sensibility influenced by her training as a modern dancer, she turned every shot into a rhythmic game, taking the camera where traditional cinema never dared to go, turning it into another character in her stories and bearing witness to the uncomfortable realities told in her films. Clarke was a revolutionary force who challenged the expectations imposed on women in a male-dominated industry with films such as the mockumentary The Connection (1961), Portrait of Jason (1967), The Cool World (1963) and the documentary Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With the World, for which she won an Academy Award in 1964. Until her death in 1997, she continued to set an example for filmmakers who, like her, seek to break the mold and give voice to forgotten, authentic, and unusual stories, leaving a legacy that endures as a testament to creative courage.