Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

1973 · 4 min

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 series of shots documenting the making of a chocolate cake, followed by a shot of JoAnn's sandaled foot stepping in the middle of the cake. When JoAnn screened the film in homes or loft spaces in Chicago, she would always serve chocolate cake as an accompaniment. Date of production unknown (likely 1973).

Directed by JoAnn Elam

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Pup Birth

"Pup Birth" captures the excitement, chaos, and tenderness between a dog and her newly-born litter of puppies. In intimate close-up, the puppies crawl around and nuzzle with their mother, mirroring JoAnn Elam's own affection for dogs and animals in general. The date of production remains unknown.

Shirley & Bruce

Shirley & Bruce · 1979

Shirley & Bruce

Portraits of Chuck’s cats and friends, as well as a self-portrait.

Rape

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Rape has three victims discussing their emotional, physical and intellectual responses, then and now, highlighted and commented upon by a series of visual interpolations.

Ala - Dad

Ala - Dad · 1979

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An outdoor gathering.

Moving

MovieDocumentary

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

Windows

Windows · 1984

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Contrasting environments, in and outside.

Popcorn

"Popcorn" begins with a teenaged boy reading from an unknown text inside a living room. JoAnn Elam is seen knitting, presumably nearby, before entering the kitchen and proceeding to cook popcorn on the stovetop. Each step is filmed in extreme close-up, with an emphasis on hands and tactility. This attention to process is similar to other films from Elam, notably " Chocolate Cake " (F.2011-01-0166). At the end of "Popcorn," following a flurry of light leak and mis-aligned optical printing, the boy happily eats the popped and seasoned kernels. The exact date of production remains unknown.

Light Leak

In this footage by JoAnn Elam, almost nothing is discernible, with the exception of buildings sometimes emerging in the dark and stripes of orange light invading the black screen near the end. Like other elements from this collection, Light Leak exemplifies the type of cinematic experimentations that Elam was interested in her work.

Michigan

Michigan · 1976

MovieDocumentary

Farm work and nature.

Landscape

Landscape · 1973

MovieDocumentary

Chicago streets.

Bowl

MovieDocumentary

USPS workers go bowling.

Windows

Windows · 1974

“Windows” documents the views of and out from windows around JoAnn Elam’s Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago. The first section begins at an El train stop, capturing the station itself and the views of people playing tennis as seen from the moving train. A switch approximately halfway through the runtime moves the action to downtown Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain and then Logan Square as filmed through Elam’s window screen. The shapes of the buildings finally abstract into geometric forms on film.

Sprockets

Sprockets · 1976

MovieDocumentary

Sprocket holes moving across the screen.

Sanibel

Sanibel · 1978

8mm. experimental film shot by JoAnn Elam in Sanibel, Florida.

Garbage

Garbage · 1984

MovieDocumentary

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

Backyard Winter

Backyard Winter

Backyard Winter

MovieDocumentary

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

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