Movies: JoAnn Elam

A covered bridge and the nature surrounding it....

Digging in the woods....

Sprocket holes moving across the screen....

Abstract short....

Cleaning supplies and flames....

Two pumpkins....

Elam's husband prepares vegetables at the sink....

Consists of frantic and (mostly) uninformative pans sprinting across Elam's lawn....

“Tai Chi II,” similarly to Elam’s “Tai Chi Bowling” and “Tai Chi,” focuses on movement. Through a sequence of close-ups, Elam coyly records portions of several individuals practicing tai chi, primarily focusing on the practitioners’ extremities as th...

Elam records several men moving boxes and furniture as they track across her backyard....

Contrasting environments, in and outside....

Filmed in extreme close-up, the lit-up pine needles of a Christmas tree are abstracted into forms of line and contrast. “Christmas Tree” then moves around the living room to focus on JoAnn Elam stringing popcorn, a playful dog, a tapestry on the wall...

JoAnn Elam's unfinished project, EVERYDAY PEOPLE (filmed from 1979 to 1990), is based on her experiences as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service in Chicago (primarily the Logan Square neighborhood). Camera in hand, Elam follows co-workers as th...

Abstract images of flames and fire....

Joann Elam captures urban residents on the go in various seasons. The film begins in winter, as JoAnn captures sleepy neighborhood scenes from her snowy Logan Square windowsill. This is followed by manipulated summer scenes of a fast paced marathon. ...

Set to the Beatles 1965 song "You Like Me Too Much," Daytime Television consists of a series of close-up handheld pans of cleaning supply labels and packaging. Elam refuses to pull back and the abstracted visual effect is both dizzying, hypnotic, and...

Abstract direct animation film made by JoAnn Elam....

Experimental filmmaker JoAnn Elam guides (or limits) the viewer's eyes down a rural, wooded path....

The film was made in response to an evening during which a number of male members of Chicago's experimental film scene gathered at JoAnn's house and proceeded to ignore both her and the chocolate cake she made for the occasion. The film consists of a...

Images of Christmas lights at night, a group of baton-twirlers in the street, postal carriers, kids walking down the street, etc. Exact date of production unknown....