One VHS tape, “Chicken ‘n Dumplings,” at once a home movie record of a group of friends in Idledale, CO, making & enjoying a meal on Valentine’s Day 1989 and a spoof on the tv shows “French Chef” and the “Andy Griffith Show.”
“Chicken & Dumplings: A Home Documentary” is at once a home movie record of a group of friends in Idledale, CO, making & enjoying a meal on Valentine’s Day 1989 and a spoof on the tv shows “French Chef” and the “Andy Griffith Show.” As one of its creators, Meg Fremaux explains, it’s “about chicken
Two men and two dogs hunt boar. The boar is caught, slaughtered, and prepared for a traditional underground pig roast.
Popcorn” begins with a teenaged boy reading from an unknown text inside a living room. JoAnn Elam is seen knitting, presumably nearby, before entering the kitchen and proceeding to cook popcorn on the stovetop. Each step is filmed in extreme close-up, with an emphasis on hands and tactility. This attention to process is similar to
Similarly to Elam’s other sink-centric work, e.g. “Letters and Dishes,” “Joe and Greens” takes note of a pair of hands in and around a kitchen faucet. At work, these worn hands meticulously prepare vegetables: de-stemming kale, washing (what appears to be) radishes, and tossing lettuce about soapy water. The man on screen is Joe Hendrix,
This film’s images consist of recreational types barbequing and loitering about a backyard superimposed on seemingly a spatial survey of the same backyard which houses said peoples’ leisure. This simultaneous rendering of setting and action creates a dream-like wandering through what is presumably Elam’s Logan Square backyard, as depicted in her film “Backyard (Original)” and
Elam wanders about an art fair in “Palmer Square Art Fair ’85,” documenting the happenings of the event. Setting scale, the short begins on the outskirts of the festivities and then, slowly progresses inward examining several of the affair’s vendors. Elam takes particular looks at two fair facets, recording extended shots of a band performing