Category Archives: film

Other People’s Children (Original)

A series of home move style shots of a mother and her young child crawling outdoors. Scenes include a mother and toddler playing in a Chicago backyard, a young family boating in a small lake, toddlers playing & bathing outdoors, a young girl and her stuffed animal and a children’s birthday party with a pi?ata.

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Last Whole Earth Catalog (Original)

The title of this fast paced experimental film presumably refers to the American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972. The film quickly edits and overlaps scenes from various rural and urban landscapes, creating a strong postcard “wish you were here” feeling. Exact Date of production is unknown.

Love Me, Love My Dog (Original)

An affectionate and humorous portrayal of the relationship between a woman and her dog. As the dog explores the world and meets other dogs on their many walks together, the film shakes and mirrors the excitement and chaos of a dog’s life. Many of these scenes are repeated and reprinted, lending a distinct rhythm of

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Front Porch

Similar to her “Back Porch” films, JoAnn Elam’s “Front Porch” documents the scenes of life in her neighborhood in Chicago. The film pays especial attention to the light flowing through different branches and leaves of plant growth and the rhythm of a gentle breeze swaying the blinds on the window. These patterns and abstractions repeat

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I Can Almost See It

Shot from the inside of a house and through a window’s curtains, one can sometimes distinguish the colorful flowers in the yard outside. But, as in much of her other film work, JoAnn Elam is apparently more interested in filming textures, light, and colors. Panning over the curtains at various speed, the camera captures their

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Celebrated Royal Fireworks (Original)

This film celebrates the frenzy of light and color found amid exploding fireworks and the speeding headlights of cars on a nighttime road. In the first half of the film, it appears that JoAnn Elam experiments with projecting film of fireworks and filming it again off the screen, superimposing the explosions. At different parts, the

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Fire

Abstract images of flames and fire, including wide shots of the fireplace itself. This film appears to be an 8mm test or outtake for JoAnn Elam’s 16mm work ” Firelight ” (F.2011-01-0277). The date of production remains unknown.

Blizzard of ’79 (Original)

Footage documenting the famed “Blizzard of ’79,” including some early examples of parking “dibs,” people digging out their cars, and postal carriers delivering mail.

Beauty and the Beast (Original)

Images of a shadow puppet play, intermittent rapid editing, and sweeping shots of a farm, dogs playing outside, plants, kitchens and interiors, provide a naturalistic portrait of peaceful spaces and friends. Date of production unknown.

Boyers & Rhinos

Experimental home movie documenting a visit by filmmakers Wayne and Eleanor Boyer and their nine-year-old son Brett to JoAnn Elam’s home in Logan Square, Chicago, for a summer barbecue. Later in the film, Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage, co-founders of the cinema journal Jump Cut join the group. Since Elam is on screen for much

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