Julia Lesage Collection

Collection Identifier
C.2021-02
Extent of Collection
22 Super-8mm films totaling approximately 3850 feet; 14 8mm films totaling approximately 1725 feet; 1 16mm film totaling approximately 75 feet; and 1 open reel video tape.
Language Of Materials
English
Custodial History
The collection was stored in the home of Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage; first in Evanston, IL, then in Eugene, OR.
Related Materials
Papers and ephemera related to Jump Cut were donated to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research and are part of the Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage Collection.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to on-site access. Appointments must be made with Chicago Film Archives. Due to the fragile nature of the films, only video copies will be provided for on-site viewing.
Use Restrictions
CFA holds the rights to the films in this collection.
Creators
Lesage, Julia (was created by)
Julia Lesage is a film scholar whose work is devoted primarily to experimental filmmaking and feminist documentary theory. Her video work is largely political documentaries.

Lesage earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in 1976. While in Bloomington, Lesage met her partner, fellow film scholar Chuck Kleinhans. Along with John Hess, Kleinhans and Lesage co-founded Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media in 1974. Featuring reportage, reviews, original research and analytical articles, Jump Cut is considered to be one of the most influential publications on the subject of film, and is emblematic of the era of the New Left. Jump Cut has continued to be published annually since 1974, making it one of the longest-running politically engaged film journals.

Lesage has taught as a visiting professor in departments of English, Women’s Studies, Telecommunications and Film across the United States (the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Rochester, San Francisco State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to name but a few), and as a tenured professor at the University of Oregon. Her publications include several monographs, including Making a Difference: University Students of Color Speak Out, with Abby Ferber, Deborah Storrs, and Donna Wong (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), Media, Culture, and the Religious Right, ed. with Linda Kintz (University of Minnesota Press, 1998), as well as countless articles that have appeared in Jump CutCamera ObscuraFilm ReaderWide Angle, and Women and Film, and in numerous edited volumes. Her award-winning video productions include In Plain English (Columbus International Film Festival, North Carolina International Film and Video Festival) for which she has received production grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Center for New Television, Chicago, Making a DifferenceEl CruceroTroubadours, and Las Nicas. Lesage's video work was donated to Media Burn and can be viewed there.