JoAnn Elam (April 20, 1949 – June 25, 2009) was a Chicago-based filmmaker. Her film explored the themes of feminism and she was best known for her film Rape (1978). Elam, so worked on other political and social documentaries such as her unfinished film Everyday People (1979-1990).
Not only did Elam's work focus on these themes but she is so focused on everyday life in her film. While living in San Francisco,California, and Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she attended Antioch College, Elam had completed these everyday life documentary films. These films and her other films were produced on 16mm and 8mm film, but mainly 8mm.
Her film the Rape and Everyday People have been subjects of great interest. Rape has been seen and applauded by many including the authors of feminist film criticism journals and reviewers of the film. It has given women the power to speak up about experiences with rape and allowed them to be angry instead of keeping it all in. Everyday People has been on the art and film worlds’ interests because of its uncompleted state and the insight into the postal service, which she used to work for.
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 they del ...
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This footage is almost entirely black, save for a few shots possibly showing electric poles outside. ...
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Lie Back & Enjoy It is a dialectical film about the politics of representation. Its image track consists of technologically manipulated images of women, and some printed titles. Its soundtrack consists of a dialogue between a Man (a filmmaker) and a Woman ...
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Elam records several men moving boxes and furniture as they track across her backyard. ...
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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. Throug ...
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Filmed during the 52nd National Convention of the American National Association of Letter Carriers in August 1980. ...
Watch NowFootage documenting Chicago's famed "Blizzard of '79," including some early examples of parking "dibs," people digging out their cars, and postal carriers delivering mail. Shot in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. ...
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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 stuffe ...
Watch NowSimilar 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 gentl ...
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A myriad of purple and blue markings flicker hypnotically across the screen in "Filmabuse." Periodically a blue screen flashes, disturbing the trance induced by the colorful smudges. The rhythm of the colors gathers steam and accelerates as the film contin ...
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Abstract, direct animation consisting of triangular shapes that flow past the frame. Apparently the source for "Filmabuse" (F.2011-01-0262) and "Filmabuse Loop" (F.2011-01-0263), this original painted material is presented in an edge-to-edge scan to replic ...
Watch NowAn 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 sce ...
Watch NowImages 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. ...
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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 full ...
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Experimental film by Chicago filmmaker JoAnn Elam (1949-2009). Altered lyrics to the song "Chains" sit atop animated images of grains. Exact date of production unknown. "Chains" was composed by the Brill Building husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Gof ...
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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 i ...
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The ancient art of Tai Chi transitions seamlessly into the fluid movements of bowling. Exact date of production unknown. ...
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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 wearin ...
Watch NowIt's nice outside, take a stroll in the woods but be careful. ...
Watch NowThis footage by JoAnn Elam was probably shot in San Francisco, where Elam spent the "Summer of Love" in 1967 and which she perhaps visited again later. First rapidly edited, the footage then slows down to focus on rows of houses, the street numbers on thei ...
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A woman wakes up, gets dressed, makes breakfast and walks down the street. This daily ritual becomes extraordinary seen in a trance-like structure of continuous lap dissolves and continuous spectral color shifts. ...
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