Starr, Cecile, 1921-

Filmmaker, frlm writer, and educator Cecile Starr was born in Nashville, TN (July 14, 1921) and grew up in New Orleans, LA. She received a B.A. in Romance Languages (LSU, 1941) and a masters degree in Adult Education (Columbia University. Teachers College, 1952); after which she taught film history and criticism in Columbia's Graduate Film department (1955-1961).

Starr worked as non-thratrical writer and editor for the quarterly "Film Forum Review" (1946-1949) and the weekly "Saturday Review" (1949-1959). She also published free-lance articles in "The New York Times" and various film journals (sometimes on highly controversal subjects). Starr wrote or edited four books: "Ideas on Film" (1951); "Film Society Primer" (1956); "Discovering the Movies" (1972); "Experimental Animation", with Robert Russett (1976, revised 1988). As a scriptwriter and producer, her films include the award-winning "Fellow Citizen, A. Lincoln" and "Islamic Carpets."

For 35 years Starr has worked as a part-time, home-based distributor, renting and selling films on behalf of friends and colleagues, including Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker, Helen Levitt, Mary Ellen Bute, Hans Richter and others. In 1977 she founded and became co-director of the Women's Independent Film Exchange, and in 1991 she received one of the Anthology Film Archive's Fiulm Preservation award.

Starr married filmmaker Aram Boyajian in 1957. They have two children and one grandson.