Filmed at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, “Woman’s Place & Dance” features a group of young women and men running around and enjoying themselves on the grass outside. Among their activities are jumping rope, posing in different positions, and wearing colorful masks, but the film is primarily concerned with capturing the sense of free
This short footage by JoAnn Elam shows two women digging a hole in the woods. As many elements in this collection reveal, Elam was interested in farm labor, especially as she spent some time in Monterey, MA in the early 1980s. Throughout her life, Elam was also an advocate for gender equality and her work
Following a garden’s progression from dormant to hospitable,”Armitage & Western” utilizes sharp cuts to communicate the passage of time and to record the toiling of hunched-over women whose hard work fostered such transformation. Elam concludes the piece with a car parallel-parking in the background, visual focus placed on a blossomed flower in the foreground.
Elam’s “Rhinos & Black” consists of two sections: the former pans around a kitchen table as female company (including Elam herself in a red plaid shirt) chuckles and communes together over a meal;the latter section (approximately four of the five minute runtime) cuts to black only to relent with occasional flickers and flares.
“JoAnn & Susan x2” begins with a female protagonist, JoAnn Elam, playfully modeling a red, knit blanket, superimposed by a rider, JoAnn’s sister Susan Elam, and her steed moseying around a indoor corral in Grayslake, IL. As the juxtaposition continues, Susan meanders in the background and JoAnn time travels backward, through a series of segments
Collection contains [Margaret Cummings Bean–home movies], footage of summer and winter family activities and events at The Cape, cottages on Thompson Lake, Maine, and surrounding areas. Scenes include fishing and boat rides, children playing in snow, farm life and animals, hunting parties, weddings and barn building. Footage also shows nature scenes: fall foliage, loons and
Collection contains [Adelaide Pearson–home movies], scenes from “Bluehill” life drawing classes (1939-1945) and from Pearson’s travels around the world. Footage shows community events such as the Blue Hill Fair, religious parades in New York, Florence and Paris, Hopi Indian dances in Arizona, and bull fights in Mexico. Reels of a trip to Asia includes footage
The Movie Queen Bar Harbor Collection consists of a single 16 mm. film called “Movie Queen,” made in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was produced as part of a local talent production and consists of a young woman arriving by boat, meeting local dignitaries, visiting the town’s businesses, followed by a short comedic kidnapping. The film
Collection contains documentaries. “Master Smart Woman” (1985) concerns Maine author Sarah Orne Jewett, “Children of the Northlights” (1976) is about children’s book creators Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire, and “Rocks Nudes and Flowers” (1975) concerns Maine-based painter Henry Strater. “In the Spirit of Haystack” (1979) describes Haystack School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine. Collection also contains
Collection contains “Movie Queen, Lincoln,” a fictional short production about a film star who arrives by train to her home in Lincoln, Maine. She tours the town and receives gifts from local merchants. The movie queen is kidnapped and then rescued. Scenes include a parade, streets and retail businesses, townspeople, and automobiles. The footage provides