Floria Sigismondi's Stuttering Ballerinas and Aubergine Dances

Filmmaking, especially music-video-making, is an old boys network. Most of the names familiar to fans of the short form are young male mavericks. That's not the only reason, of course, that makes Italian-born, Canadian-reared artist Floria Sigismondi stand out as one of the most outstanding creators of images, available for viewing online. But it is just one more distinction that sets her apart from the pack.

With Thanksgiving upon us, Sigismondi's breathtaking 1950s retro "Aubergine" spot, created for the November 25, 2000 relaunch of Canada's Eatons department stores, has found its way onto the web recently. It's a marvelous ode to Hollywood past, with a particular affinity for the color purple. What makes it so startling, in addition to its Busby Berkeley-like musical numbers, is how different it is from much of Sigismondi's image-making.

She is most known for darker music videos, from her early collaborations with Marilyn Manson (the nightmarish "Tourniquet") to her variations of jittery, haunting netherworld-like ballerinas (see the White Stripes' "Blue Orchid" and Christina Aguilera's stunningly eerie "Fighter" ) to the dissociative bodies and warped realities, on view in this Amon Tobin video for "4 ton mantis."

But my favorite Sigismondi short is a video for Sigur Ros' "untitled #1," which combines the fluidity of her commercial work with the dark, destructive imagery of her music videos: For these children, playtime never looked so apocalyptic.

For more Sigismondi, check out the "directors" page at commercial company, Believe Media. or her own website.