Here's a remarkable documentary about a remarkable woman, famous and highly praised in her time as one of the pioneers of cinema in France and the United States, but largely forgotten today, except for this thoroughly researched documentary that aims to correct the record. In telling the story of how a lowly secretary saw the story-telling power of cinema in France (through Jodie Foster's narration), director Pamela B Green and her team construct a beguiling portrait of both the artist and how she seemed to have been written out of history through a combination of carelessness and callousness.In addition to the testimonials from a slew of current filmmakers, Green injects into the film a thriller element by including her tireless hunting of material and relatives, which has her criss-crossing back and forth across the map. Snippets from those vintage films that glowed like beacons in the mist, focusing on what Guy-Blache was a prolific and adventurous director.Green resists turning the film into a polemic despite what must have been a strong temptation. She merely makes it clear that while Alice Guy-Blache was able to flourish despite her gender in running a successful studio, it was suddenly a problem when it came to recording her achievements. Fortunately, much of her material survives and Green reassembles her life with deep respect and tangible love for an artist who has bypassed convention dictates and rewritten the rules to suit herself.