{{short description|American film director and screenwriter}} {{Infobox actress | name = Cecile Starr | birth_date = July 14, 1921 | birth_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date = December 9, 2014 | spouse = Aram Boyajian }}

'''Cecile Starr''' (July 14, 1921 – December 2014) was an American film director, screenwriter, educator and author who taught and wrote about moving pictures.<ref name="monash-interview">{{Cite journal|url=https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/interview-with-cecile-starr|title=Interview with Cecile Starr|first=Deane Martin|last=Williams|date=May 29, 2016|journal=Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media|volume=57|issue=1|pages=58–84|doi=10.13110/framework.57.1.0058 |s2cid=190821545 |via=research.monash.edu|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

She was born in Nashville, Tennessee.<ref name="monash-interview" /> She married film producer Aram Boyajian in 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/archives/rbml/Starr/|title=Cecile Starr Papers|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref> They had two children.<ref name=snac>{{Cite web|url=https://snaccooperative.org/view/34847968|title=Starr, Cecile, 1921- - Social Networks and Archival Context|website=snaccooperative.org}}</ref>

She was a founder and co-director of the Women's Independent Film Exchange.<ref name=snac/> She conducted research for a documentary film on Mary Ellen Bute that she never completed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/807 | title=Collection: Cecile Starr papers relating to Mary Ellen Bute &#124; Archives at Yale }}</ref>

In 2015, the New York Public Library held a tribute event in honor of her work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/10/01/silent-clowns-film-series-cecile-starr-tribute-celebration|title=Cecile Starr Tribute Celebration|website=The New York Public Library}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Starr was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from Louisiana State University in 1941 with a B.A. in Romance Languages. In 1952, Starr graduated from the Columbia University's Teacher College with a Masters in Adult Education. She worked in Columbia's graduate film department teaching film history and criticism from 1955 to 1961.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Starr, Cecile, 1921- - Social Networks and Archival Context |url=https://snaccooperative.org/view/34847968 |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=snaccooperative.org}}</ref>

== Career == During World War II, Starr worked at the Australian News and Information Bureau, which was associated during that time with the Office of War Information.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecile Starr Interview — FRAMEWORK {{!}} The Journal of Cinema and Media |url=https://www.frameworknow.com/news/cecile-starr-interview |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=FRAMEWORK |language=en-US}}</ref>

Starting in 1949, Starr began working for the ''Saturday Review of Literature'' where she wrote film reviews.

From 1955 to 1961, Starr worked in Columbia's graduate film department teaching film history.<ref name=":0" /> Between 1967 and 1968, she helped create and coordinate school film programs for the Lincoln Center Education Department.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cecile Starr Interview — FRAMEWORK {{!}} The Journal of Cinema and Media |url=https://www.frameworknow.com/news/cecile-starr-interview |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=FRAMEWORK |language=en-US}}</ref>

Starr was a contributing writer for ''Sight and Sound,'' a British film magazine, ''Film Quarterly'' and Filmmakers Newsletters.<ref name="monash-interview" /> Her writing has contributed to bringing attention to women pioneers in filmmaking, such as Erica Anderson, Lee Burgess, Frances Flaherty, Helen Grayson, Osa Johnson, and Helen Levitt.

==Writings== * ''Experimental Animation: Origins of a New Art'' (1968), co-authored with Robert Russett * ''Ideas on Film: A Handbook for the 16mm Film User'' (1971) * ''Discovering the Movies: An Illustrated Introduction to the Moving Image'' (1972) * "American Women: Early Filmmakers", ''Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film'' (2006)

==Filmography== * ''Rembrandt and the Bible'' (1967) * ''Islamic Carpets'' (1970) * ''Fellow Citizen: A. Lincoln'' (1972) * ''Richter on Film'' (1972)

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_4079913 Cecile Starr Papers, 1925-2001], Columbia University * {{IMDb name|1773500}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Cecile}} Category:1921 births Category:2014 deaths Category:20th-century American women educators Category:20th-century American educators Category:20th-century American historians Category:20th-century American biographers Category:21st-century American historians Category:21st-century American biographers Category:Writers from Nashville, Tennessee Category:American women documentary filmmakers Category:American women academics Category:Educators from New York City Category:American nonprofit chief executives Category:American film historians Category:American women historians Category:American women biographers