In Persona Joanna Priestley

“Joanna Priestley’s amazing body of animated films have deservedly earned their place in the pantheon of contemporary international animators. Inventively envisioned, superbly crafted, and rich with insight into the physical and spiritual dilemmas that confront us all, each new work provides an unexpected pleasure.” –Bill Foster, Director, Northwest Film CenterJoanna Priestley has directed, animated and produced 27 award winning films and recently completed an abstract animated feature, “North of Blue”. Her work maintains a high level of porosity between serious exploration of boundaries and intuitive whimsy and she is dedicated to experimentation in technique, theme and content. Joanna Priestley has had retrospectives all over the world including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, Poland) and Hiroshima Animation Festival (Japan) and she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, the MacDowell Colony, Fundación Valparaíso and Creative Capital. Joanna Priestley was founding president of ASIFA Northwest and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1992, where she annually juries the Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Screenplay Fellowships.”She’s the queen of independent animation.” -Bill PlymptonThis programme is a retrospective of her popular abstract films, including the recently completed “Split Ends”, with a sampling of Joanna Priestley’s award winning narrative and humorous films.

Voices (Voices)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 1985 / 00:04:00 min.

She-Bop (She-Bop)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 1988 / 00:08:00 min.

All My Relations (All My Relations)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 1990 / 00:05:00 min.

Pro and Con (Pro and Con)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley, Joan Gratz / USA / 1993 / 00:08:30 min.

Streetcar Named Perspire (Streetcar Named Perspire)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2007 / 00:06:23 min.

Dear Pluto (Dear Pluto)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2012 / 00:04:13 min.

Missed Aches (Missed Aches)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2009 / 00:04:00 min.

Missed Aches demonstrates how the shortcomings of spell check can result in unexpected mistakes.

Utopia Parkway (Utopia Parkway )

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 1997 / 00:05:00 min.

Dew Line (Dew Line)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2005 / 00:04:25 min.

Eye Liner (Eye Liner)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2010 / 00:03:58 min.

Split Ends (Split Ends)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 01.2013 / 00:03:33 min.

The delicate patterns of Split Ends were inspired by North American wrapping papers from the 1960’s and French and English wallpapers from the early 1900’s. Without relying on pop culture reference points, some patterns stimulate a collective memory of youthful self-hypnosis and visual absorption.

Bottle Neck (Bottle Neck)

Regie Director: Joanna Priestley / USA / 2015 / 00:02:55 min.

A crush of still life silhouettes, abstract shapes and complex, interlocking patterns, Bottle Neck explores the commonplace objects of a classical painting genre in a modern setting. The final film in the Eye Liner Trilogy.