Everyday People [Rough Cut]
Identifier
V.2011-01-0692
Date Of Production
1979 – 1990
Abstract
Everyday People is an unfinished documentary based on JoAnn Elam's experiences as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service in Chicago. The film was shot on a variety of different formats, including 16mm and 8mm film, video, and magnetic sound recordings. This version is a rough cut found on a VHS within the collection; this is the longest and most complete extant version of the film. Approximately 250 other film, video and audio elements, as well as papers, associated with the film are also held at CFA. Papers suggest that Elam intended to expand the story into the political struggles they faced with the administration and the union, as well as larger issues related to the history of labor struggle and activism in the United States.
Description
Camera in hand, Elam follows co-workers as they deliver the mail throughout various Chicago neighborhoods. Elam’s construction of this film-in-progress creates a lovely cadence and rhythm that transforms the repetitive motions of the postal worker—pushing the mail cart, carrying the bag, avoiding the dogs, opening the gates, and climbing the steps to the front door—to something poetic yet startlingly familiar. Their stories (heard mostly in voice-over) are those of everyday people who at the time struggled with issues of race and gender in relationship to their work.
"Elam positions the USPS letter carrier as a literal street-level organizer of shattered working-class Chicago communities and argues her thesis with a singular assemblage of testimonials, workplace protocol, neighborhood walking tours, and startling flashes of color. Over the course of the film's extended production, Elam quit her job as a Logan Square letter carrier, but EVERYDAY PEOPLE betrays no bitterness: it's a film dedicated to helping people make sense of their economic positions and recognize the validity of their own lives. EVERYDAY PEOPLE was never finished, but the expanse of its ideas and ambitions resists recognized forms anyway." — Kyle Westphal writing for CINE-FILE, Oct 2012.
"Elam positions the USPS letter carrier as a literal street-level organizer of shattered working-class Chicago communities and argues her thesis with a singular assemblage of testimonials, workplace protocol, neighborhood walking tours, and startling flashes of color. Over the course of the film's extended production, Elam quit her job as a Logan Square letter carrier, but EVERYDAY PEOPLE betrays no bitterness: it's a film dedicated to helping people make sense of their economic positions and recognize the validity of their own lives. EVERYDAY PEOPLE was never finished, but the expanse of its ideas and ambitions resists recognized forms anyway." — Kyle Westphal writing for CINE-FILE, Oct 2012.
Run Time
22m 0s
Color
color and B&W
Sound
Mono
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Language Of Materials
English
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Genre
Form
Subject
Related Collections
Related Places
Main Credits
Elam, JoAnn (is filmmaker)
Additional Credits
Kleinhans, Chuck (is contributor)
Participants And Performers
Hendrix, Joe (is participant)
Morgan, Nancy (is participant)
Ortiz, Juan (is participant)
Davis, Joan (is participant)
Elam, JoAnn (is participant)
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![Post Office: [JoAnn] 7252 Original](https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/media/cfa/images/4/9/87002_ca_object_representations_media_4932_medium.jpg)
