“Maya Deren (April 29, 1917, Kiev – October 13, 1961, New York City), born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s. Deren was also a choreographer, dancer, poet, writer and photographer. Also in 1943, Deren began making a film with Marcel Duchamp, The Witches’ Cradle, which was never completed. At that time her social circle included the likes of André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, and Anaïs Nin.” (from Wikipedia)

Read more about Deren at IMBd and find her papers at Boston University.