Tom Chomont

Tom Chomont

Tom Chomont was a prominent figure of the New York underground film world, and made films for over 40 years. Tom Chomont was a longtime HIV and Parkinson’s Disease survivor and sadly died on June 28, 2010. “Tom Chomont’s films are at once highly poetic and carefully controlled personal statements, and so private both in form and subject matter that they become almost hermetic…the instability of human existence, the poles of all -encompassing imagination on the one hand and nothingness and death on the other, are the notions underlying these works.” – Fred Camper From 1962 through 1989, Tom Chomont made over 40 films. All but two of his films are silent and all are short, ranging from less than 1 minute to 16 minutes. Perhaps, the subtitle of his film Phases of the Moon best characterizes his film work: The Parapsychology of Everyday Life. His films, often portraits of friends, are a lyric evocation of the ordinary world, but at the same time they bear witness to an unabashedly spiritual and sexual parallel universe. His incomparable technique of offsetting color positive and high contrast black and white negative creates a subtly beautiful and richly evocative, otherworldly aura. Since 1990, he has worked exclusively in video. The videos are hard-edged and raw. While many center around explicit s&m imagery, they go beyond the performative aspects of sadomasochistic practice and become an entrée to a transcendent and philosophical other world.

  • Title: Tom Chomont
  • Popularity: 1.695
  • Known For: Directing
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Tom Chomont Movies

  • 2003
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    Early Monthly Segments

    Early Monthly Segments

    1 2003 HD

    Early Monthly Segments, filmed when Beavers was 18 and 19 years old, now forms the opening to his film cycle, "My Hand Outstretched to the Winged...

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  • 1998
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    Panic Bodies

    Panic Bodies

    1 1998 HD

    "Panic Bodies is a 70-minute, six-part exploration of the ways we experience the body's betrayals: disease, decline and death. The film is a panorama...

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  • 1997
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    Birth of a Nation

    Birth of a Nation

    6.3 1997 HD

    Filmmaker Jonas Mekas films 160 underground film people over four decades.

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  • 1966
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    Galaxie

    Galaxie

    1 1966 HD

    In March and April of 1966, Markopoulos created this filmic portrait of writers and artists from his New York circle, including Parker Tyler, W. H....

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  • 2002
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    Tom

    Tom

    10 2002 HD

    Portrait of gay filmmaker and Parkinson's sufferer Tom Chomont.

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  • 1967
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    Jabbok

    Jabbok

    1 1967 HD

    The story of Jacob wrestling the angel at the stream called Jabbok.

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  • 1967
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    The Mirror Garden

    The Mirror Garden

    1 1967 HD

    A romantic and lyric study of a young friend and readings he encouraged, especially Mallarmé.

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  • 1968
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    Phases of the Moon: The Parapsychology of Everyday Life

    Phases of the Moon: The Parapsychology of Everyday Life

    1 1968 HD

    “I usually avoid the term ‘film poem,’ because it was overused in the ‘40s and ‘50s. But somehow it fits Phases of The...

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  • 1968
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    Epilog/Siam

    Epilog/Siam

    1 1968 HD

    Two portraits paired, one warm, one cold.

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  • 1967
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    Morpheus In Hell

    Morpheus In Hell

    1 1967 HD

    "I, Prolugue, II, The Angel Morpheus/The Major Arcana, III, Jeu de la main. The title refers to (a) quote attributed to Stan Brakhage regarding the...

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  • 1966
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    Anthony

    Anthony

    1 1966 HD

    "The first experimental films I saw were mostly trance films or reactions to trance films. [My] first films, like Anthony (1966), are rather like...

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  • 1966
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    Mona Lysa

    Mona Lysa

    1 1966 HD

    Whimsical variations suggested by the minute cracks in a print of Leonardo's famous portrait.

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  • 1965
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    Night Blossoms

    Night Blossoms

    1 1965 HD

    "I would say that the films of Mike Kuchar interest me very much. Also, some footage by a young film-maker in Boston, Tom Chomont, his footage...

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  • 1965
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    Flames

    Flames

    1 1965 HD

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  • 1975
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    abda/Rebirth

    abda/Rebirth

    1 1975 HD

    With abda I was processing black and white film myself in buckets . . . I wanted to destroy my own image." – T.C. (An interview in Afterimage,...

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  • 1967
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    Jabbock

    Jabbock

    1 1967 HD

    The story of Jacob wrestling the angel at the stream called Jabbok.

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  • 1969
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    Gloria in the Glass

    Gloria in the Glass

    1 1969 HD

    1 minute, color, silent 16mm

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  • 1977
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    The Heavens

    The Heavens

    1 1977 HD

    "The Heavens"–Symmetrical chaos envelops a lone, topless man, whose symmetrical abstractions conjure up a psychadelic version of DaVinci's...

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  • 1978
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    Earth

    Earth

    1 1978 HD

    Flashing lights illuminate black faces and dark eyes, oscillating between darkness and inverted lightness.

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  • 1984
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    Joe's Maison

    Joe's Maison

    1 1984 HD

    The film began as a record of the painter Joseph Glin and his series of paintings inspired by "La Maison Des Mortes" by Guillaume Apollinaire. After...

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  • 1970
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    Aria

    Aria

    1 1970 HD

    For R. B. and G. M. Filmed in Diesntis, Switzerland.

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  • 1972
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    Lijn II

    Lijn II

    1 1972 HD

    Lijn II is a tiny portrait of a friend made on a contact printer from scraps of a film that was lost

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  • 1970
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    Portret

    Portret

    1 1970 HD

    A portrait of Eric de Kuyper.

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  • 1969
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    Untitled

    Untitled

    1 1969 HD

    Made in 1969. 1min. 16mm. Black and White

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  • 1969
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    A Persian Rug

    A Persian Rug

    1 1969 HD

    The film frame sometimes seems to function as a rug-like rectangle into or onto which the lover steps. Filmed in Orselina, Switzerland after reading...

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  • 1977
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    Space Time Studies

    Space Time Studies

    1 1977 HD

    "De eevwigheid duurt een oogwenk./ De ti jd duurt maar door." – A. Roland Holet. "This film is in several short sections. Most are set in a...

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  • 1979
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    Minor Revisions

    Minor Revisions

    1 1979 HD

    "I intended to make a film about food and spiritual nourishment, but this was punctuated by two visits from a friend (upon entering the us army and...

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  • 1970
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    Inner Sanctum

    Inner Sanctum

    1 1970 HD

    Video Art by Tom Chomont

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  • 1998
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    Twilight

    Twilight

    1 1998 HD

    Video Art by Tom Chomont

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  • 1984
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    Razor Head

    Razor Head

    1 1984 HD

    One man shaves another in this highly charged erotic performance.

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  • 1994
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    Aquarium

    Aquarium

    1 1994 HD

    Short experimental film made in 1994.

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  • 1970
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    A Faustian Knot

    A Faustian Knot

    1 1970 HD

    Made in 1994 with Clark Coleman. Short experimental film.

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  • 1970
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    The Hidden Staircase

    The Hidden Staircase

    1 1970 HD

    Made in 1990. Short experimental film.

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  • 1970
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    Head Shot

    Head Shot

    1 1970 HD

    Made in 1998. Short experimental film.

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  • 1969
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    Oblivion

    Oblivion

    2 1969 HD

    “Approximately thirty images comprise Oblivion. Most obsessively repeat themselves. Although the images appear to be solarized, the film was...

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  • 1969
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    The Cat Lady

    The Cat Lady

    5 1969 HD

    “A portrait of Carla Liss, evoking the atmosphere of the old horror films we both loved.”

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  • 1971
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    Love Objects

    Love Objects

    1 1971 HD

    A portrait of polymorphous lovers that references the Medieval parable of Les Noces du Roi et Reine and the marriage of opposites... dichotomy...

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  • 1969
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    Ophelia

    Ophelia

    5 1969 HD

    A portrait inspired by reading about John Millais' painting Ophelia.

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  • 1994
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    Spider Jan.16.91

    Spider Jan.16.91

    1 1994 HD

    Short experimental film made in 1994.

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