Âme d’artiste (1925, 88m, 35mm)
This backstage comedy was an important work in Dulac’s tireless pursuit of a “pure cinema,” an approach to the medium that sought to demonstrate that it had more modern and expressive tools at its disposal than any other art. Adapted from a play by Danish poet Christian Molbech,  its narrative concerns the drama that ensues amid an encounter between a fragile, sensitive poet and an independent actress, effectively reversing conventional gender dynamics. Dulac includes newsreel footage and deploys a typically audacious array of visual effects to once again put the modern age onscreen.