Helen van Dongen

Helen van Dongen was a pioneering editor of documentary films who was active from about 1925–1950. She collaborated with filmmaker Joris Ivens from 1925 to 1940, made several independent documentaries, and edited two of Robert Flaherty's films before retiring from filmmaking in her 40s. She is best known for her work on "Louisiana Story" (1948) and the anti-fascist film "The Spanish Earth" (1937). During World War II, van Dongen served as a filmmaker with the U.S. Office of War Information with fellow film editors Sidney Meyers and Ralph Rosenblum, the latter of whom she mentored.