Ronald Chase

Known for DirectingBorn 1934-12-29Died 2025-12-20

Ronald Chase (born December 29, 1934) is an American artist, photographer, educator, independent film maker and opera designer. In 1963, Chase began making short experimental films with Fragments, written by Mary Lee Settle and filmed in the Hudson Valley. In 1964, he began experimenting with using film projections in theatre and dance performances. These experiments produced the films The Covenant, Chameleon and Clown, as well as Parade, a short documentary of the first Gay & Lesbian Pride Parade in San Francisco. Chase produced and directed two features in the 1970s. Bruges-La-Morte premiered at the 1978 Rotterdam Film Festival and was awarded the Critics Prize at the International Film Festival Ghent in 1980. LULU, adapted from the play by Frank Wedekind, screened at a number of festivals and was chosen as one of the three best films of 1978 by Pariscope, but could not be released because of a copyright conflict with the estate of Alban Berg. In 1993, Chase created the San Francisco Art & Film Program for Teenagers, a non-profit devoted to making the arts accessible to young people. SF Art & Film has been cited as one of the most comprehensive art education programs in the United States.Read more

Movies & web series

Cathedral

Parade

Fantasia on the Childhood of Busoni

The Covenant

Ever Since the World Ended

Lulu

Bruges-La-Morte

Gay USA: Snapshots of 1970s LGBT Resistance

Jezebel

Beatrice Cenci (On a Painting by Carravaggio)

Celebration of Life: Trees

Beatrice Cenci

San Francisco Christmas Breakfast

Sally Simpson

A Village Romeo

Scene One: Take One

Chameleon

Clown

Fragments