I was a critic before I made my pictures
My family was of classe moyenne supérieur
We were quite close to Jules Verne’s infrastructures

Our genealogy was Saisset-Schneider
I left Amiens for Paris with my granny
Journalism I confronted with great ardeur

Writing about feminism was uncanny
For others, but it was my bread and butter
I loved covering cinematography

I was an assertive dàme, not a nutter
La Française and La Fronde were my outlets
I described women’s skills shoved in the gutter

Some things were seen unfit for the weaker sex
Practicing law or physics were just a few
Still and moving pictures were not seen as threats

It was early, the medium was still new
Stacia Napierkowska led me to this realm
I joined her in Italy with her film crew

Her act for the camera could overwhelm
I was so conquered by this creative form
Of my own studio I was at the helm

Irène Hillel-Erlanger wrote scripts in norm
Our D.H. Films company had the support
Of my apt husband who worked in land reform

Louis-Albert Dulac my art did escort
And held no contempt when our marriage ended
My style wanted to be a means of transport

For the mind to fluctuate when suspended
La Souriante Madame Beudet allowed me
To explore beyond what was comprehended

It was seen as the first sisterhood movie
A woman sought escape from a grim wedlock
I applied Impressionism, it was groovy

My Surrealist touch was defined poppycock
La Coquille et le Clergyman was the film
That was inspired by Antonin Artaud’s work

But the use of this expression in cine-film
Credited the men of Un chien andalou
It was a sensory trip on micro-film

My work was received with a boisterous boo
I was no Luis Buñuel or Salvador Dalí
I was called ‘vache’ for my anti-sexist point of view

It did not block me, after all c’est la vie
Cinema affected me in many ways
Germaine Dulac was still my identity

After divorce I moved away from clichés
Marie-Anne Colson-Malleville I loved
Our romance was meant for the rest of our days

Two spouses were destined to my beloved
Our liaison was way more profound than these ties
My professional progress she never shoved

Artsy or mainstream I made no compromise
Cinéma pur was my first and foremost mission
Above literature and stage it would rise

Emotion and abstraction was my vision
Using dolly shots and lens distortions too
And dynamic cutting to cause elision

The sequential Kuleshov effect I knew
The flow of apperception was my focus
From Charles Baudelaire inspiration I drew

Invitation au voyage was no bogus
I was freeing my Dada vitality
Helping young talents was my magnum opus

The Fédération des ciné-clubs I would oversee
I taught courses at the École Technique
I received the Légion d’Honneur with utmost glee

Sound film did not agree at all with my streak
So I plunged in Pathé and Gaumont newsreels
Howbeit I feel my craft will thrive as unique.