Elizabeth Coffman

Elizabeth Coffman is a documentary filmmaker and film scholar. She's published work in Camera Obscura, Journal of Film & Video and other places. Her film work has been broadcast and screened at festivals in Europe and the U.S. Elizabeth maintains messy homes in Chicago and in Tampa, where her two children live with their father during the week, and stay with her on the weekends. Elizabeth and her filmmaking partner have a media production company -- Long Distance Productions.

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Most Recent Articles

May 22, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Into the Darkness
A family review.
May 8, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Choosing a College
A daughter's difficult choice.
April 24, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Dove's Real Beauty Campaign
On ads, their parodies, and their meanings....
April 10, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Obituaries
The film world was busy this week mourning the loss of two “mountains”—documentary filmmaker Les Blank and film critic Roger Ebert.  They will both be remembered for highlighting work about women, blacks, Cajuns, “crackers,” Mexicans, Yugoslavs—subjects and filmmakers who are too often ignored and forgotten by mainstream media.   Both men have inspired me in my own filmmaking and teaching.
March 27, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!
I attended the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) this past weekend.  Ken Burns, who was raised in Ann Arbor by a college professor dad, and claims to have seen his “first breasts” on the screen of the Michigan Theatre was also present. The festival is internationally known for showcasing experimental filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hammer and Pat O’Neill, whose work was featured this year. Historical documentaries by Burns, which cover a good swath of American history and are used in educational settings around the globe, are not typically included in the experimental or underground film categories.
March 13, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Should my son become a college professor?
How often do offspring repeat their parent’s profession?
February 27, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Mean Girls and Boobs
Made you look, huh?  I put “boobs” in the title, knowing that it would draw attention and to make a postmodern point.  Not that I really need to make one, after ‘Mr. Family Guy’, the Academy Awards host, made it for me.
February 6, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Commuting & GHG
On a recent Tuesday it was over 60 degrees before sunrise in Chicago (setting an historic record), while it is dropping to 7 degrees by Friday. I’m not going to list the reasons why we should care about global warming nor the indisputable facts that back it up. (Bill McKibben’s recent article in Rolling Stone magazine does a better job than I ever could.)
January 16, 2013
Long Distance Mom: Drop Off and Launch
Well, I successfully dropped off my son Nick for his first day of college. If you’ve been following my column (and his), you will know that my son was a “high school burnout” who took some time off before college.  Discovering that he was bored silly with the minimum wage working world, Nick conceded to apply to a local state school. He moved into a dorm last Sunday and started classes at 8:00 am on Monday (which happens when you register late.)
December 12, 2012
Long Distance Mom: Getting Ready for College
After taking the fall semester off, my son Nick is ready to begin his college life in January at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, the "jewel by the bay."  As he reported in this blog, Nick went through a period of distracted, teenage depression — his high school burn out years.  He spent more time on YouTube than Algebra, causing his parents undue worry as they received calls from guidance counselors telling them that Nick was close to not graduating.  

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