Alice Guy-Blaché (French, 1873-1968), the world's first woman film director, made films for Gaumont in Paris (1896-1907), then had her own studio, the Solax Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey (1910-1914). After Solax ceased production, she became a director for hire and went to work for The International Film Service, owned by William Randolph Hearst. The plot of The Ocean Waif adheres closely to the Hearst agenda: a romantic story, plenty of pathos but no brutality, a likeable hero and an innocent young woman, and a suspenseful plot with a dramatic and happy ending ("the Mary Pickford school of narrative"). Blaché's parody of the Pygmalion-type love story gives equal screen time to each lover's point of view, but also skewers conventional class tropes. Doris Kenyon stars in the title role of an abused young woman who finds safety and eventually love in the arms of a famous novelist.

Previously unseen and long overdue for the spotlight, this film remains one of screen legend Lois Weber's finest creations and a landmark in women's cinema. Ballet dancer and choreographer Anna Pavlova lends her presence to Weber and Phillips Smalley's story of Fenella, a wordless fisher-girl living under the Spanish occupation of Naples in the mid-17th century, as she is seduced by a Spanish nobleman. However, when the nobleman betrays and abandons her, Fenella's broken heart inspires her brother to lead a rebellion against their overlords and free their people from rule. After a century's worth of work in restoration, THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI returns with a brilliant score by John Sweeney to delight modern audiences.