Tom Chomont

Biography

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.

Known for

Early Monthly Segments

Acting roles

Year	Movie / TV show / Other	Role
2003	Early Monthly Segments
2002	Tom	Himself
1998	Panic Bodies
1997	Birth of a Nation	Self
1966	Galaxie	Himself

Credits

Year	Movie / TV show / Other	Role
—	Head Shot	Director
—	A Faustian Knot	Director
—	The Hidden Staircase	Director
1998	Twilight	Director
1994	Aquarium	Director
1994	Spider Jan.16.91	Director
1984	Razor Head	Director
—	Inner Sanctum	Director
1984	Joe's Maison	Director
1979	Minor Revisions	Director
1978	Earth	Director
1977	The Heavens	Director
1977	Space Time Studies	Director
1975	abda/Rebirth	Director
1972	Lijn II	Director
1971	Love Objects	Director
1970	Aria	Director
1970	Portret	Director
1969	The Cat Lady	Director
1969	Oblivion	Director
1969	Ophelia	Director
1969	Gloria in the Glass	Director
1969	A Persian Rug	Director
1969	Untitled	Director
1968	Epilog/Siam	Director
1968	Phases of the Moon: The Parapsychology of Everyday Life	Director
1967	The Mirror Garden	Director
1967	Jabbok	Director
1967	Morpheus In Hell	Director
1967	Jabbock	Director
1966	Mona Lysa	Director
1966	Anthony	Director
1965	Flames	Director
1965	Night Blossoms	Director