Tom Chomont

Known for DirectingDied 2010-06-28

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Galaxie

Panic Bodies

Tom

Birth of a Nation

The Cat Lady

Ophelia

Oblivion

Mother's Day

Early Monthly Segments

Twilight

Aquarium

Spider Jan.16.91

Joe's Maison

Razor Head

Minor Revisions

Lover

Earth

The Heavens

Space Time Studies

abda/Rebirth

Re: Incarnation

Lijn II

Research

Love Objects

Aria

Portret

Gloria in the Glass

A Persian Rug

Untitled

Phases of the Moon: The Parapsychology of Everyday Life

Epilog/Siam

Spiracle

Jabbok

The Mirror Garden

Morpheus In Hell

Mona Lysa

Anthony

Flames

Night Blossoms

Inner Sanctum

The Hidden Staircase

A Faustian Knot

Head Shot

Storm Warning

Penguin Pool

Wizard of Light

The Cat Music