Vivian Ostrovsky (born 1945) is an

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

maker and curator.

Biography

Ostrovsky was born in 1945

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, US, and spent most of her childhood years in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. She completed a B.A. degree in Psychology in

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, at the Institut de Psychologie, and later enrolled in Film Studies at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle. She was later a student of

Henri Langlois Henri Langlois (; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often ...

at the

Cinémathèque Française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

and of

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the Post-war, p ...

at the

Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie The ''Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie'', also known as the Michelet Campus, is a building at 3 rue Michelet in Paris, built for the educational institution of the same name (French for "Institute of Art and Archaeology"). It was initially design ...

. In the 1970s, together with Rosine Grange, Ostrovsky founded the non-profit organization Ciné-Femmes International (first called Femmes/Media), dedicated to the promotion, distribution and exhibition of films made by women. During its active years (1975–1979) Ciné-Femmes International addressed the lack of distribution and exhibition opportunities for women’s films. It was the only organization in France at the time to initiate film screenings, programs and symposia, focusing on women's filmmaking and on women’s image on film. They toured with women's documentaries, features, animation short and experimental films, distributing them where needed, much before the advent of formats such as VHS and DVD. In 1975 - declared

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. History ...

by the United Nations – Ostrovsky, together with Esta Marshall, organized a major women's film festival in Paris (Femmes/Films), as well as an international symposium – Women in Film - under the auspices of

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. This event was held in St. Vincent, the Aosta Valley, with participants such as

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, Helma Sanders-Brahms,

Chantal Akerman Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York. Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actress. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at ...

Márta Mészáros Márta Mészáros (born 19 September 1931) is a Hungarian screenwriter and film director. The daughter of László Mészáros, a sculptor, Mészáros began her career working in documentary film, having made 25 documentary shorts over the span o ...

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer a ...

and

María Luisa Bemberg María Luisa Bemberg (April 14, 1922 – May 7, 1995) was an Argentine screenwriter, film director and actress. She was one of the first Argentine female directors with a powerful presence both in the filmmaking and the intellectual world of Latin ...

. An international association, Film Women International, was the outcome of this venture. In 1980 Ostrovsky launched into experimental filmmaking with a debut film, ''Carolyn 2'', co-directed by Martine Rousset and starring choreographer Carolyn Carlson. Since then, Ostrovsky has made over 30 films mostly shot in Super-8, often incorporating found footage such as newsreels, excerpts from feature and documentary films, as well as personal home movies. As described by yann beauvais, Ostrovsky's films combine two genres of experimental film – the film journal and the film-collage – creating her unique version which beauvais names 'journal-mosaic'. Her films are often referred to as nomadic as they cross between countries, cultures and subject matters. Ostrovsky's international screening venues include:

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, Paris (retrospective); MAM, Rio de Janeiro (retrospective);

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York;

Hirshhorn Museum The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

, Washington;

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris;

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art established in the year of 1872, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre ...

, and major film Festivals such as

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Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

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and others. Her works have been acquired by collections and archives such as

, New York;

, Paris; Freunde der Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin; the French Foreign Affairs Ministry (for the French Institutes worldwide). Following her father, George Ostrovsky, who was one of the founders of the

Jerusalem Film Center Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in Israel, Vivian has been active as a member of its board of directors and is one of the film curators for the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

held yearly by the Jerusalem Cinematheque. She is also currently on the Board of Directors of

Film Forum The Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It is a four-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with up to 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, over ...

, a New York based non-profit movie theater with independent and repertory programming. Her other activities include: curating film programs for the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro, composing several radio pieces for the French public radio station

France Culture France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...

(Ateliers de Création Radiophonique),France Culture website
/ref> and a children’s book in cooperation with her sister Rose Ostrovsky (''MUMPS!'').

Filmography

* ''Carolyn 2'' (1980) starring choreographer Carolyn Carlson, co-directed with Martine Rousset * ''Top Ten Stylists'' (1980) with

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Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld also called Kaiser Karl (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion hous ...

, etc., co-directed with Soft Ware Prod. * ''Movie (V.O.)'' (1982) * ''Copacabana Beach'' (1983) * ''Allers-Venues'' (1984) * ''Stalingrad'' (1984) installation for "Le Génie de la Bastille" * ''U.S.S.A.''(1985) * ''* * * (Trois Etoiles)'' (1987) * ''Propos Décousus'' (1987) expanded super 8 * ''Eat'' (1988) * ''M.M. in Motion'' (1992) * ''Uta Makura (Pillow poems)'' (1995) * ''Public Domain'' (1996) * ''American International Pictures'' (1995) * Interview with Woody Allen for the Jerusalem Film Festival (1997) * ''Work and Progress'' (1999) co-directed with Yann Beauvais * ''Nikita Kino'' (2002) * ''Ice/Sea'' (2005) * ''Télépattes'' (2007) * ''Fone Fur Follies'' (2008) * ''Ne Pas Sonner'' (2008) * ''The Title Was Shot'' (2009) * ''Tatitude'' (2009) * ''P.W. – Painéis e Pincéis'' (2010) *''Ocean Bazar'' (2011) 16 mm installation * ''Wherever Was Never There'' (2011) * ''CORrespondência e REcorDAÇÕES'' (2013) *''Splash'' (2013) 16mm installation * ''Losing the Thread'' (2014) *''On Dizziness'' (2016) video installation * ''But Elsewhere is Always Better'' (2016) * ''DizzyMess'' (2017) * ''Hiatus'' (2018) * ''Unsound'' (2019) * ''AtmoSphere (2020) * ''SON CHANT (2020) * ''Elizabeth Bishop: From Brazil with Love (2025)

References

External links

* * https://archives.vivianostrovsky.com/ * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrovsky, Vivian Living people 1945 births American women experimental filmmakers American women film directors

Biography

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links