JoAnn Elam Movies

Two women gardening on a sunny day.

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...

“Windows” documents the views of and out from windows around JoAnn Elam’s Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago. The first section...

Farm work and nature.

Abstract images of flames and fire.

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

Abstract direct animation film made by JoAnn Elam.

Underexposed scenes from a backyard barbecue likely at the home of JoAnn Elam and Joe Hendrix, featuring members of the "Logan Square Rhinos" —...

This footage is almost entirely black, save for a few shots possibly showing electric poles outside.

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...

A myriad of purple and blue markings flicker hypnotically across the screen in “Filmabuse.” Periodically a blue screen flashes,...

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...

Cleaning supplies and flames.

Experimental film by Chicago filmmaker JoAnn Elam (1949-2009). Altered lyrics to the song "Chains" sit atop animated images of grains. Exact date of...

Elam turns in place while filming nature.

Filmed in extreme close-up, the lit-up pine needles of a Christmas tree are abstracted into forms of line and contrast. “Christmas Tree”...

Joann Elam captures urban residents on the go in various seasons. The film begins in winter, as JoAnn captures sleepy neighborhood scenes from her...

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

Abstract short.

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...