Directing

Chick Strand

Born December 3, 1931 · Northern California, USA

Died July 11, 2009 · aged 77

Mildred "Chick" Strand's accomplishments as an artist spanned more than three decades. In the early 1960s, with a new anthropology degree in hand, she turned her attention to ethnographic filmmaking. Her early work focused on Meso-American cultures explored through the language of the experimental documentary. In 1961, she founded Canyon Cinema with Bruce Baillie, an organization that, in 1965, s…

Known For

Loose Ends

Loose Ends · 1979

Loose Ends is a collage film about the process of internalizing the information that bombards us through a combination of personal experience and media in all forms. Speeding through our senses in ever-increasing numbers and complicated mixtures of fantasy, dream and reality from both outside and in, these fragmented images of life, sometimes shared by all, sometimes isolated and obscure, but with common threads, lead us to a state of psychological entropy tending toward a uniform inertness… an insensitive un-involvement in the human condition and our own humanity. —Chick Strand

Soft Fiction

Soft Fiction · 1979

MovieDocumentary

Chick Strand's SOFT FICTION is a personal documentary that brilliantly portrays the survival power of female sensuality. It combines the documentary approach with a sensuous lyrical expressionism. Strand focuses her camera on people talking about their own experience, capturing subtle nuances in facial expressions and gestures that are rarely seen in cinema. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2015.

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht · 1979

MovieDocumentary

A bewitching, mysterious work of enveloping beauty, the film’s ominous title and a dedication to Anne Frank deeply inform our reading of its haunting subtext. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation, in 2009.

Sears Sox

Sears Sox · 1968

A short piece of commercial work done by three legendary L.A. artists. This piece was shown on loop projectors in Sears stores to promote an exciting and new young ladies' clothing line. 16mm print preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Waterfall

Waterfall · 1968

MovieDocumentary

A film poem using found film and stock footage altered by printing, home development and solarization. It is a film using visual relationships to invoke a feeling of flow and movement. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Film Preservation Foundation in 2011.

Guacamole

Guacamole · 1975

Poetic surrealism. Approach is experimental in relationship of image and sound. A film about the loss of innocence and the search for the essence of the human spirit. Funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Fever Dream

Fever Dream · 1979

A wet hot dream about sensuality. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Pacific Film Archive in 2009.

Artificial Paradise

Artificial Paradise · 1986

Artificial Paradise

MovieDocumentary

Aztec romance and the dream of love. The anthropologist’s most human desire, the ultimate contact with the informant. The denial of intellectualism and the acceptance of the romantic heart, and a soul without innocence. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

Filmography

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Loose Ends

Loose Ends · 1979

Loose Ends is a collage film about the process of internalizing the information that bombards us through a combination of personal experience and media in all forms. Speeding through our senses in ever-increasing numbers and complicated mixtures of fantasy, dream and reality from both outside and in, these fragmented images of life, sometimes shared by all, sometimes isolated and obscure, but with common threads, lead us to a state of psychological entropy tending toward a uniform inertness… an insensitive un-involvement in the human condition and our own humanity. —Chick Strand

Director

Soft Fiction

Soft Fiction · 1979

MovieDocumentary

Chick Strand's SOFT FICTION is a personal documentary that brilliantly portrays the survival power of female sensuality. It combines the documentary approach with a sensuous lyrical expressionism. Strand focuses her camera on people talking about their own experience, capturing subtle nuances in facial expressions and gestures that are rarely seen in cinema. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2015.

Director

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht · 1979

MovieDocumentary

A bewitching, mysterious work of enveloping beauty, the film’s ominous title and a dedication to Anne Frank deeply inform our reading of its haunting subtext. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation, in 2009.

Director

Sears Sox

Sears Sox · 1968

A short piece of commercial work done by three legendary L.A. artists. This piece was shown on loop projectors in Sears stores to promote an exciting and new young ladies' clothing line. 16mm print preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Director

Waterfall

Waterfall · 1968

MovieDocumentary

A film poem using found film and stock footage altered by printing, home development and solarization. It is a film using visual relationships to invoke a feeling of flow and movement. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Film Preservation Foundation in 2011.

Director

Guacamole

Guacamole · 1975

Poetic surrealism. Approach is experimental in relationship of image and sound. A film about the loss of innocence and the search for the essence of the human spirit. Funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Director

Fever Dream

Fever Dream · 1979

A wet hot dream about sensuality. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Pacific Film Archive in 2009.

Director

Artificial Paradise

Artificial Paradise · 1986

Artificial Paradise

MovieDocumentary

Aztec romance and the dream of love. The anthropologist’s most human desire, the ultimate contact with the informant. The denial of intellectualism and the acceptance of the romantic heart, and a soul without innocence. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

Director

Mosori Monika

Mosori Monika · 1970

Filmed at Mission San Francisco de Guayo on the Orinoco River Delta in Venezuela, in 1965. A Franciscan nun and an Indian woman describe the Indian way of life before and after the arrival of the mission 20 years prior to the making of the film; their words are translated to English voice-over. They discuss marriage ceremonies, fishing, gender roles in work distribution and family responsibilities, shamanism and death rituals. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Film Preservation Foundation in 2011.

Director

Woman of a Thousand Fires

Woman of a Thousand Fires · 1976

Woman of a Thousand Fires

An expressionistic, surrealistic portrait of a Latin American woman.

Director

Elasticity

Elasticity · 1975

Impressionistic surrealism in three acts. The approach is literary experimental with optical effects. There are three mental states that are interesting: amnesia, euphoria and ecstasy. Amnesia is not knowing who you are and wanting desperately to know. I call this the White Night. Euphoria is not knowing who you are and not caring. This is the Dream of Meditation. Ecstasy is knowing exactly who you are and still not caring. I call this the Memory of the Future. This is an autobiographical film funded by the American Film Institute.

Director

Fake Fruit Factory

Fake Fruit Factory · 1986

Fake Fruit Factory

MovieDocumentary

Intimate documentary about young women who make papier mache fruit and vegetables in a small factory in Mexico. They have a gringo boss, but the factory is owned by his Mexican wife. The focus of the film is on the color, music and movement involved, and the gossip which goes on constantly, revealing what the young women think about men.

Director

Angel Blue Sweet Wings

Angel Blue Sweet Wings · 1966

Angel Blue Sweet Wings

MovieDocumentary

An experimental film poem in celebration of life and visions. Techniques include live action, animation, montage and found images. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

Director

Cosas de mi vida

Cosas de mi vida · 1976

Cosas de mi vida

MovieDocumentary

Strand spent over twenty years documenting her friend Anselmo Aguascalientes’ life, eventually creating a stunning trilogy of films—Anselmo, Cosas de mi vida, and Anselmo and the Women—tender portraits that are also glimpses into poverty, resourcefulness, perseverance and patriarchy.

Director

By the Lake

By the Lake · 1986

"A sort of collage film, using images shot for other films that somehow never were finished. The sound comes from various sound gathering adventures. An Anglo woman's interpretation of magic realism." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Director

Children Are Our First Priority: Title 1

Children Are Our First Priority: Title 1 · 1971

Children Are Our First Priority: Title 1

An educational film in which the positive benefits of Title 1 funded schooling are illustrated. Though a commissioned work, this film fully exhibits close-up camera work and remarkable, fluid editing.

Director

Woman with Flowers

Woman with Flowers · 2011

Woman with Flowers

MovieDocumentary

A Mexican flower seller’s story of personal tragedy is delicately illuminated in an intimate and moving act of portraiture that is both unsettling and liberating. In her final film, Chick Strand mixes brutal heartbreak and palpable joy into a transformative vision of dignity and vitality.

Director

Anselmo and the Women

Anselmo and the Women · 1986

Anselmo and the Women

Continuing the life of Anselmo, a Mexican street musician, and his life-long struggle to make a good life for his children. This film focuses on his relationship with his wife Adela and his mistress, Cruz, and theirs with him.

Director

Cartoon Le Mousse

Cartoon Le Mousse · 1979

Cartoon Le Mousse

An abstract compilation of found footage. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Film Preservation Foundation and Pacific Film Archive in 2009.

Director

Eric and the Monsters

Eric and the Monsters · 1965

Eric and the Monsters

Chick Strand's first film, made while living in the Bay Area, features her young son Eric as a little boy traipsing through a mysterious landscape, perhaps pursued by the titular monsters. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation and Pacific Film Archive in 2009.

Director