Benacerraf was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Primarily interested in becoming a writer, she studied Philosophy and Literature at the Central University. In 1947, she won the Pan-American Award for an essay and by the next year, she wrote a play that won an award co sponsored by Columbia University. Part of her prize was the opportunity to come to New York to study writing for the theater. There, Benacerraf discovered cinema when she appeared as an actress in a student film. Captivated by the medium, she traveled to France in 1950 to study at IDHEC - the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques in Paris - so that she could produce films in Europe.
But in November 1951, she interrupted her classwork to create her first film, "Reverón", a poetic study of the legendary and eccentric Venezuelan artist. The 30-minute short gained international acclaim when it premiered at the 1953 Berlin Film Festival. At the festival, Benacerraf met pioneer historian Lotte Eisner, who became a lifelong friend. Eisner later introduced her to Henri Langlois, the genius behind the Cinematheque Française, who played a major role in Benacerraf's life and career.

It took several years and a few false starts before she decided to make a three-part film of the south, central and north regions of her native Venezuela. On investigating the arid north, however, Benacerraf fell in love with the region and people of Araya and decided to focus her first feature there. In 1958, after an exhaustive consultation of the historical documents at the Seville and Madrid archives, she started shooting her film, ARAYA (Venezuela / France, 1959. Restored digital. 90 min).

Source:
www.stbarthff.org/2010/the_films.html