The Anthology Film Archive of New York has scheduled a screening series devoted to the female directors of the early 20th century. The series, called “Woman With a Movie Camera: Female Film Directors Before 1950,” will run from September 15–28.

“Female filmmakers in the 21st century continue to struggle against double standards, institutionalized sexism, and a dire lack of opportunities, especially within the realm of commercial cinema,” Anthology writes. “While these obstacles have been in place for many decades now — ever since film production coalesced into a bona fide industry — the history of women’s role in film production is far more complicated than one might assume. Indeed, in the medium’s infancy — throughout the silent era — women had a stronger presence behind the camera than at any other period since. A multitude of women worked as screenwriters, crew members, and even directors during the period in which the industry was in formation.”

“It was not until the movies emerged as a commercial venture of vast financial potential, and film production became increasingly standardized as a result, that women were systematically pushed out,” Anthology observes. “This transformation took place very quickly — by the 1930s, female film directors in commercial cinema (particularly but not only in America) were very much the exception to the rule. Even in the classical Hollywood period, however, a handful of remarkable women (such as Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino) did succeed in taking possession of the director’s chair.”

The series seeks to spotlight the contributions of early female filmmakers who haven’t received the recognition that they deserve.

Anthology was inspired by two ambitious projects: the Women Film Pioneers Project, which was founded by Jane Gaines and came to fruition (two decades after it was conceived) in 2013, and the Woman with a Movie Camera project, a global platform committed to increasing the visibility of women working in film and video, as well as the October 2015 Sight & Sound article “The Female Gaze: 100 Overlooked Films Directed by Women.”

The series will include rare archival and imported prints, spotlights on early filmmakers such as Gene Gauntier, Alice Guy-Blaché, Germaine Dulac, and others, and the premiere of a new restoration of Lois Weber’s “Shoes.” Check out the full lineup of films below, and head to the Anthology website for the full schedule.

“The Girl Spy Before Vicksburg” (Sidney Olcott & Gene Gauntier)

“Further Adventures of the Girl Spy” (Sidney Olcott)

“The Colleen Bawn” (Sidney Olcott & Gene Gauntier)

“Broadway Love” (Ida May Park)

“The Adventures of Prince Achmed” (Lotte Reiniger)

“The Rosary” and “Suspense” (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley)

“Shoes” (Lois Weber)

“The Holy Night” (Elvira Notari)

“Humankind” (Elvira Giallanella)

“The Drunken Mattress” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The Strike” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The New Love and the Old” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The Roads That Lead Home” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché” (Marquise Lepage)

“The Smiling Madame Beudet” (Germaine Dulac)

“The Seashell and the Clergyman” (Germaine Dulac)

“The Latest Variety Sensation” (Rosa Porten & Franz Eckstein)

“The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty” (Esfir Shub)

“The Girl in Tails” (Karin Swanström)

“Knowing Men” (Elinor Glyn)

“Homes for the People” (Kay Mander)

“Merrily We Go to Hell” (Dorothy Arzner)

“Fieldwork Footage” (Zora Neale Hurston)

“Death Is a Caress” (Edith Carlmar)

“Golden Gate Girls” (S. Louis Wei)

“Nobody’s Wife” (Adela Sequeyro)

“Women Who Made the Movies” (Gwendolyn Foster & Wheeler Dixon)