Josefina Emilia Saleny (16 October 1894 – 22 August 1978) was an Argentine film director, actress, and teacher.
Biography Emilia Saleny was born in Buenos Aires on 16 October 1894, the daughter of Antonio Saleny and Italian actress Victoria Pieri. Her uncles were also Italian actors. She traveled to Italy in 1910 to study acting, and returned to Buenos Aires at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
She worked as an actress at the in 1915. She also founded an academy for film acting, which was described as the most serious and reliable of all those in Buenos Aires by critics of the film magazine La Película.
In 1917, Saleny directed the silent films Paseo trágico and La niña del bosque. The latter was aimed at children, and starred students from her academy, including 11-year-old Titi Garimaldi. With these, she became one of Argentina's first women film directors. She has been cited as the forerunner of filmmakers such as María B. de Celestini and Vlasta Lah.
She directed in 1919, from a screenplay by Bautista Amé, which was shown in Buenos Aires and Ingeniero Luiggi. She may have also directed Delfina in 1917 and Luchas en la vida in 1919, though her exact role in the productions is unclear.
As an actress, she appeared in the now-lost film El evadido de Ushuaia, directed by Luis Ramassotto, produced by Cóndor Film, and released on 27 December 1916. The same year, she acted in América, directed by , and the following year, Problemas del corazón. She was artistic director of the 1920 play Cantos rodados by Francisco Imhoff.
Emilia Saleny died at her home in Buenos Aires on 22 August 1978.
Filmography As director 1917: La niña del bosque 1917: Paseo trágico 1917: Delfina 1919: Luchas en la vida 1919:
As actress 1916: El evadido de Ushuaia 1917: América 1917: Problemas del corazón
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