A film about the incredible life of the
"First female fashion photographer of our time" (Vogue)
Before Annie Leibovitz photographed the Rolling Stones, and before other great female photographers made history, there was Madame d’Ora.
Born Dora Kallmus, she took fin-de-siècle Vienna by storm, later conquering interwar Paris. Between Vienna, Paris, and Berlin, she photographed cultural giants such as Gustav Klimt, Josephine Baker, and Pablo Picasso. Fashion icons like Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Cristóbal Balenciaga stood before her lens.
In a male-dominated world, she was a creative force of nature — full of wit and style, setting new artistic standards. Her portraits — from Alma Mahler and Colette to Anna Pavlova and Arthur Schnitzler — were more than commissioned work. They captured human dignity and brilliance, often with a touch of humor.
For nearly five decades, Madame d’Ora worked for the most prestigious magazines of her time — Vogue, Tatler, Harper’s Bazaar. As chief photographer for L’Officiel, she documented every couture collection, season by season, for every major fashion house. Balenciaga, a close friend, would send his models to her studio before his shows — for photos that would circle the globe.?
Her images are elegant and expressive — snapshots of a cultural transformation. They bear witness to the seismic shifts in society, politics, fashion, art, and culture between the turn of the century, the roaring twenties, and the postwar era. But they are more than documentation: her photographs staged the times, shaping how they were seen.
Her work didn’t end with glamour. When the Nazis occupied Paris, she was one of the last foreign photographers with her own studio. In 1942, she was forced into hiding, spending years concealed in a mountain village in France.
After the war, her gaze changed. One of her most powerful works emerged: a haunting photo series on refugees, commissioned by the United Nations — raw, painful, and strikingly relevant.
Madame d’Ora was petite, elegant, and full of energy. She loved jewelry, black hats, and Chanel dresses — and she worked into old age. In 1963, she died alone and without memory in the Austrian town of Frohnleiten.
Jean Cocteau called her “a timeless woman ... inspired by the wings of genius.”
This film tells the dramatic life story of a groundbreaking artist — from the glamour of Viennese modernism, through the rebellious twenties, Nazi persecution, and the postwar years. A cinematic portrait of a woman who not only documented the 20th century — but helped define it through her lens.
Documentary
1 x 90 min. / 1 x 52 min. / 2 x 45 min.
Written and directed by Klaus T. Steindl
A production by EPO-Film and KREATIVkraft
Versions: German, English, French
