A Woman Who.: Essays, Interviews, Scripts (PAJ Books: Art + Performance)

Yvonne Rainer is one of the most important feminist, avant-garde filmmakers working today. She began her career as a dancer and choreographer, and was one of the founders of hte Judson Dance Theater. Since the mid-1970s, however, she has worked almost entirely in film and here works in that medium have been the subject of more than a dozen retrospectives, the most recent of which was at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. She has been honored with honorary degrees from art schools and with fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations.

Her works have unblinkingly explored such issues as menopause, breast cancer, lesbianism, sexual dissatisfaction,a nd political violence against women. Increasingly, they have moved beyond the festiva circuit to premiere in art theaters in the United States as well as overseas. Her most recent feature-length film, Murder and Murder (the script of which is included in this volume), opened in New York last month.

Yvonne Rainer was born in San Francisco and has lived in New York City since 1956. Originally a dancer and choreographer, she began making films in 1972. Her dances and films have been seen throughout the world in major international festivals.