Leslie Thornton

Leslie
Thornton

“Her work found its first location, and inspiration, in what in those times was understood as an ‘avant-garde’ film practice; the quoted term, suspiciously suspended, is rarely invoked in these ...

Films

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    X-Tracts
    Experimental

    X-Tracts
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, black and white, sound, 9 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Arts / Artists
    • Structural
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    All Right You Guys
    Experimental

    All Right You Guys
    Leslie Thornton

    16 mm, black and white, sound, 16 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Arts / Artists
    • Biography / Autobiography
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    Jennifer, Where are You?
    Experimental

    Jennifer, Where are You?
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, color, sound, 10 min
    Rental formats: 16mm, Digital file
    • Psychology / Mental Health
    • Philosophical
    • Children / Youth
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    Adynata
    Experimental

    Adynata
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, color, sound, 13.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Ethnographic
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    Oh China Oh
    Experimental

    Oh China Oh
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, black and white, sound, 3 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    She Had He So He Do He To Her
    Experimental

    She Had He So He Do He To Her
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, color, sound, 5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Peggy And Fred In Hell (Prologue)
    Experimental

    Peggy And Fred In Hell (Prologue)
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, black and white, sound, 19 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Psychology / Mental Health
    • Philosophical
    • Children / Youth
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    Or Lost
    Experimental

    Or Lost
    Leslie Thornton

    16mm, color, sound, 7 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Another Worldly
    Experimental

    Another Worldly
    Leslie Thornton

    video, black and white, sound, 22 min
    Rental format: VHS NTSC
    • Films About Film

Biography

“Her work found its first location, and inspiration, in what in those times was understood as an ‘avant-garde’ film practice; the quoted term, suspiciously suspended, is rarely invoked in these times, but the rigor, the pure oppositional avowal, and the belief in moving imagery’s electro-shock potential”—Cinematexas

The career of American filmmaker and artist Leslie Thornton spans five decades. Thornton occupied an important place in cinema history early in her career, straddling structural filmmaking and the feminist avant-garde, using the materiality of film to interrogate matters of identity, representation, history, and perception. Her experimental practice has continued to evolve into the 2010s as she incorporates new technologies into her videos and installations. This retrospective takes a comprehensive look at Thornton’s work and includes selections by her contemporaries and influences, including Su Friedrich, Werner Herzog, Eric Baudelaire, and Pere Portabella.