The Films of Edward Owens

It’s always exciting to discover a previously unfamiliar filmmaker. Edward Owens was a Black, queer filmmaker who got his start in Chicago in the early 1960s. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later moved to New York; Owens is known for a “painterly” approach to his experimental film work. This evening features Autre Fois J’ai Aimé Une Femme, Tomorrow’s Promise, Remembrance: A Portrait Study, and Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts, all from the late 1960s.

media release: Thursdays at 7 PM • October 12, 19, 26 • November 2, 9, 16, 30 • January 25

Get ready for a new season of MMoCA Cinema.

Explore the range of the moving image – from recently restored and forgotten films to live cinematic performances shaped in the theater. Each evening is an opportunity to reflect, be challenged, and make connections with the world around you. 

MMoCA Cinema is a program of MMoCA’s education department and is curated by James Kreul. MMoCA’s film programming is generously funded by maiahaus, Venture Investors, LLC, and a gift from an anonymous donor.

Ticket Information

• MMoCA Cinema is $7 per screening, or free for MMoCA members and anyone age 18 and younger.
• Ticket sales begin at 6:30 PM in the Museum lobby.

Nov. 30:

Autre Fois J’ai Aimé Une Femme | 1966 | 24 minutes

Tomorrow’s Promise | 1967 | 42 minutes

Remembrance: A Portrait Study | 1967 | 6 minutes

Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts | 1968-70 | 9 minutes

The films of pioneering queer Black experimental filmmaker Edward Owens can be characterized by their painterly approach, dramatic lighting, and superimposition and layering of images.  

Owens was a student of filmmaker Gregory Markopoulos at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 1960s, and his films earned praise from critic Parker Tyler, among others. Owens abruptly stopped making films at age 20 after drug addiction and undiagnosed bipolar disorder began to take their toll.

The four completed works to be screened went largely unnoticed in the Film-Makers’ Cooperative catalogue until a critical reappraisal, led by scholar Ron Gregg and curator Ed Halter. Owens’ catalogue was recently restored by the Chicago Film Society, The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, and the John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The films subsequently have been screened at the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Conversations at the Edge in Chicago, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival according to the Chicago Film Society.

This program will screen 16mm prints from the Film-Makers’ Cooperative catalogue.