Portrait of a Director : Satyajit Ray (Paperback)

Marie Seton was a renowned film and theater critic from UK, who played a significant role in promoting Film Society Movement in India. She was also known as an actress. She made her first visit in 1955-56 associated with her art work in UK and developed an attraction to India. Virtually became a citizen of India, she travelled length and breadth across the country. She also authored a stunning biography of Satyajit Ray titled - Portrait of a Director: Satyajit Ray in 1971. Indian government honored Seton with the Padma Bhusan award in 1984. A columnist she contributed to Sight and Sound and other publications. She was invited to India by Jawaharlal Nehru to contribute to the development of University Film Society and the Children's Film Society in India. Maria Seton was born in 20 March 1910 in UK. As it was British rule in India, many of her close relatives were working and staying in India then. Her father, Captain Seton served in the British Army and was deputed in India. After the death of her father, her mother remarried. A regular contributer for newspapers and other artistic work, she married Donald Hesson, a Chicago lawyer and author. She visited India for the first time in 1955 after receiving an invitation from the Audio Visual Department of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. She was invited by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, following India's first International Film Festival in 1952, when there rose a need for the development of cinema in India. She got attracted to India and later stayed here giving significant contributions to Indian cinema and art. She closely worked with Professor Satish Bahadur and PK Nair in initiating and conducting the film appreciation classes of FTII. Seton lived in India in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1956 she submitted her report on how to launch the national adult literacy campaign, based on her findings. She was a close friend of Indira Gandhi. She worked closely with Vijaya Mulay and Chidananda Dasgupta for the formation of Federation of Film Societies of India. "Eisenstein's Images and Mexican Art", "Journey through India" and "A Conversation with V. I. Pudovkin" are the major articles authored by her. She passed away in 1985.