Joanna Priestley (b. 1950) has directed, animated, and produced more than thirty independent films since the early 1980s. After studying painting and printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design and UC Berkeley, she received her Master of Fine Arts in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts, where she taught with animator Jules Engel. Her film Jade Leaf (1985) was the first computer-animated film made at CalArts. In 1985, Priestley founded her own company, Priestley Motion Pictures, and three years later co-founded ASIFA-Northwest. Retrospectives of Priestley’s animated films have been shown at the British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art, REDCAT, Walker Art Center, and many other museums and film festivals. Her abstract feature film, North of Blue (2017), was awarded Best Feature Film at the Los Angeles Animation Festival, and she has produced music videos for Joni Mitchell and Tears for Fears. Based in Portland, Oregon, Priestley has also been active for many years in creating projects at Burning Man.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The collection primarily includes files compiled by Joanna Priestley documenting her animated films. These files include original drawings, production notes, storyboards, press, exhibition history, photographs, and correspondence.

RESEARCH

A finding aid for the Joanna Priestley collection is available in Harvard’s finding aid database. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

For more information about Joanna Priestley, including her more recent filmmaking projects, visit her website.