We love Orphan Film Symposium founder and Home Movie Day’er Dan Streible. He appeared this Tuesday on WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show and waxed poetic about orphan films, home movies and Home Movie Day’s role in rediscovering several important amateur films, including the Jose Torres wedding film, Think of Me First as a Person and “Our Day”. You can listen to the full interview above or by clicking here.
As part of their “Road to the Oscars” coverage leading up to the big show, ABC’s Good Morning America aired a segment shot at the August 11, 2007 Home Movie Day event at the Academy Film Archive’s Linwood Dunn Theater. The piece includes some great interviews with HMD volunteers and participants Lynne Kirste, Randy Haberkamp, Bruce Elsass and Maureen Solomon, as well as a non-speaking part for Fritz Herzog on the Super 8 projector. On the other side of the camera, HMD LA’s volunteer event videographer Brian Hamish contributed some of his footage to illustrate the story.
Click the image above to view the segment online at Good Morning America NOW.
The 2007 Annual Report of the Center for Home Movies is now available online. Click the link below to download the PDF.
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today announced his annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry. Among the films added this year was OUR DAY, a 1938 amateur film about the day in the life of a Kentucky family.
After decades as a family heirloom, the film had its first public screening at New York City’s Home Movie Day in August 2007, where it caught the attention of the audience, due to its superb craftsmanship.
OUR DAY is described by the Library of Congress as “a smart, entertaining day-in-the-life portrait of the Kelly household, shown in both idealized and comic ways. This silent 16mm home movie uses creative editing, lighting and camera techniques comparable to what professionals were doing in Hollywood.” Dave Kehr of the New York Times writes that it “displays a more sophisticated sense” of filmmaking “than the great majority of current Hollywood features.”
The 12-minute film was shot in 1938 in Lebanon, Kentucky, by Wallace McElroy Kelly. It takes place almost entirely at the family home, known as Halcyon Hill, and it documents a modern home inhabited by adults enjoying their sophisticated interests, such as playing the piano, literature, and croquet, as well as simple ones like gardening, knitting, and cooking. Kelly, a photographer, writer, illustrator and painter, bought a 16mm camera in 1929 and made films of his family through the 1950s.
The film is in the process of being preserved by Colorlab, Inc., and a new 35mm print will premiere at the Orphan Film Symposium in March 2008.
This report on Ottawa’s first Home Movie Day event—“a resounding success”!—comes courtesy of co-host Nick Nguyen:
Saturday August 11, 2007 marked the fifth anniversary of International Home Movie Day, and the nation’s capital joined alongside venues across the world in celebration with the launch of Home Movie Day Ottawa (HMDO). Under the joint direction of Tina Harvey and Nick Nguyen, the inaugural event united local film conservators and archivists with artists from the Available Light Screening Collective to stage an evening exhibition that presented spectators with a curated programme of home movies contributed by the community.
Over twenty-five films spanning 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm gauges were donated as a result of an open call for submission in advance of the event, and each was inspected by conservator Andre Larivière to determine their suitability for public projection. It was with great disappointment and regret that heavy shrinkage prohibited the screening of a majority of reels that promised a cascade of fascinating testimonials, ranging from street footage of Toronto and Ottawa from the early 1940s, to a wedding that took place in Holland in the late 1930s. Time constraints also prohibited the projection of several 400 foot 8mm reels of visits to Jerusalem, Guatemala, Mexico and Lebanon from the 1950s.
Seven films were eventually selected for HMDO, each meant to be representative of the different formal practices associated with home movies. These films, depicting family anniversaries in Sarnia (1960/1973), family cross-country trips from Ontario to Disneyland (1960), the public occasion of a Space Shuttle landing at Uplands Airbase (1983), travelogues from San Francisco (1958) and Africa (1975), and eyewitnesses to the historical event of the Solidarity strikes led by Lech Walesa in Gdasnk (1980/81) were screened in an order that deliberately asked participants to challenge their familiar assumptions about who made them, who they were made for, and how they can be understood across a spectrum of different notions of privacy.
Club SAW provided an ideal venue for HDMO, as its cozy confines afforded an intimate space that was perfectly suited to encourage a participatory atmosphere for the crowded room. Backed by an ambient soundtrack of period music, each home movie was introduced by its donor as a way to establish their relationship to the reel and to provide context to the events depicted.
For many donors, HMDO represented the first time that they had seen these films. Their reactions and exclamations provided a running commentary to the onscreen action that was supplemented by questions and observations from the audience that drew out additional details of family histories and relationships alongside expressions of recognition and shared experiences. This unique dynamic created a special triangular conversation between the donor, the projected images, and the spectators that drew attention to the social function of home movies, which became the most effective framework to reinforce the importance of their preservation.
The conclusion of the screenings continued these conversations as audience members mingled with the HMDO organizers to share more information about what they had just experienced and what can be done to ensure that such experiences persist. As an outreach event that offered the community a space to contemplate home movies within broader contexts of personal memory, public history and film preservation., Home Movie Day Ottawa was a resounding success that was appreciated by all involved.
The new issue of Film Comment (the one with Javier Bardem on the cover) has a short but very flattering review of the Living Room Cinema DVD. The country’s most respected cinematic journal called our collection of amateur films “utterly non-boring” and “really a must-have.” How do you like them apples!
Jen Sidley of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History reports on the people and the films at the event she hosted on November 3
Robbie brought in footage of a 1953 African American river baptism near Jonestown, MS. The reel also depicted crop harvesting of cotton and corn and children picking pumpkins.
David brought in a box of films from his days teaching film at Alcorn State, a black college in Mississippi (late 70s to early 80s). Films depicted student life - working, studying, at leisure. Some reels were out-takes from student-made films. One reel depicting African American quilting. One reel (S8 w/ sd) of Son Thomas sculpting in clay, singing the blues and playing guitar ca. 1982
Henry had always heard the story of how his mother dated the quarterback, and when the team (Duke) went to the Rose Bowl in 1938, the westbound train stopped in Hattiesburg, MS to pick her up. Duke lost the game, but Henry’s mother got to ride on a float in the parade. Unbeknownst to him until HMD, he had a film of her in the parade and on the train heading back east.
Rita brought in several reels of 16mm from the late 60’s depicting the South, especially Louisiana, New Orleans, and small towns in Mississippi, including footage of Braxton, MS after a hurricane.
Mary saw her children playing in Troy, NY from 1957
Heather watched her first Christmas (ca. 1980).
Greg had some student films he shot at UMass-Amherst during the late 70s. Greg describes them as avant garde and experimental. Scenes depicted were from western Massachusetts in the winter and around Boston in the spring (including the farmer’s market).
Greg also gets the award for best comedy for his student film, a fictional short called “The Great Banana Epic.” We watch as youth purchase and ingest bananas, then become susceptible to their mind-altering effects, until the diligent gun-toting rabbi comes along to straighten them out, dispose of the bananas, and cart the youth off in a boxy yellow 3-wheeled automobile. According to Greg, the car “inspired the whole thing.”
A few patrons brought in films that had mold on them. Mississippi is rather hot and humid, and we had a good talk about the effects of mold on film and how to deal with it.
We’re passing on an announcement that may be of interest to small-gauge filmmakers out there:
The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center presents 2008 UNITED STATES SUPER 8 FILM & DIGITAL VIDEO FESTIVAL February 15-17, 2008 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES: January 18, 2008 @ 5PM EST!
The 20th Annual United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival will be held February 15-17, 2008 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Festival encourages any genre (animation, documentary,experimental, fiction, personal, etc.), but the work must have predominantly originated on Super 8mm/8mm film or Digital video or 8mm video formats. All works will be screened by a panel of judges who will award over $4000 in prizes. Last year’s festival drew large audiences which viewed 22 finalist works out of 210 entries from throughout the world over three evenings. The Festival takes as its mandate the spreading of the 8mm and Digital word. For more information go to www.njfilmfest.com or call us at 732-932-8482!
2008 United States Super 8 Film/Video Festival Entry Procedure There is a $45.00 non-refundable entry fee for each work under 50 min. and $75 for works over 50 min. submitted. Do not send cash. Make the check or money order payable to the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC. Include with your entry: the entry fee; a completed entry form; a DVD or 1/2” VHS videocassettes for pre-screening, a self-addressed stamped postcard for notification of entry receipt; and a self-addressed stamped container for return of entry if desired. All entries must have originally been shot predominantly on Super 8/8mm film or Digital/Hi 8/8mm video. Digital works include HD, miniDV, DigiBeta, etc. Video transfers of films are accepted. Do not send originals or prints with many splices. For films, include your name and title on the outside of the film can as well as on the head and tail leader. For videotapes/dvds, include your name and title on both the tape/dvd box and the tape/dvd itself. Please do not send any entries in fiber-filled mailing containers. Only finalists are notified in advance that their work is in the final screenings. The Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC will not be held responsible in the event of loss or damage to submitted work.
Check out the full details and use their online submission form .
Before Home Movie Day, there was the Festival of American Folklife, which in 1974 put out a call for home movies and used the films that were contributed to make a documentary titled “Home Movie: An American Folk Art.”
Thanks to the people at Folkstreams.net, you can now watch the film in Real or MPEG-4 format.
A little more about the film:
In 1974, as part of the Family Folklore Program of the Festival of American Folklife, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., put out a call for families to bring in their home movies and have portions of them copied for a documentary film. More than 100 families responded to the call, bringing in 16 mm and 8mm home movies, as well as photo albums. The result was the documentary, Home Movie: An American Folk Art by Ernst Star, then a student in the film department at Temple University, and Steve Zeitlin, a student in the Department of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Hartford Courant has published a lengthy piece titled “Preserving Home Movies” this week, featuring interviews with HMD CT’s Molly Wheeler, Bruce Manke of the transfer company Video Imagination, Mike Mashon of the Library of Congress, and the “patriarch” of home movies in Connecticut, Robbins Barstow. The piece is more in-depth than the typical news piece that focuses on home movies around Home Movie Day each year, and examines the significance of home movies and the history and future of the Center for Home Movies itself.
Whether the focus is family or national history, a backyard party or winding highway, home movies are time capsules of American life and must be preserved, advocates say.
“Everyone’s home movie is relevant to everyone else because it just shows how we lived,” Wheeler said.
On a national level, the Center for Home Movies is ramping up efforts to educate people about preserving their 16mm and 8mm scrapbooks. The nonprofit organization also wants to save home movies that have no home and to act as a clearinghouse to direct films to regional libraries and other historic preservation centers.
The article is accompanied by a short video clip of assorted home movies.
Kae Ishihara reports:
In the 5th year of Japanese HMD, the number of reps doubled to 12. We have no regional film archives in Japan but recently some people are realising the importance of saving films in the area in their original form, not only by telecine-ing them.
So, for FPS, HMD is the best way to meet other people or groups who think in the same way as us about our regional film heritage. We still have nowhere we can donate amateur footage, home movies or small gauges, unless they have extreme rarity or historical importance, but we hope that this HMD movement will make a change in Japan in the future.
We hold a film projection workshop in April, and a HMD Japan reps meeting two months before and two months after HMD, and try to get funding to partly cover the travel costs for the reps outside of Tokyo. On the same day, we provide film inspection and telecine workshops so that each rep can develop their knowledge and skills and hopefully be a regional film archivist or equivalent someday.
We also provide the questionnaire for each rep, flyer prototypes and HMD Japan logo, postcards from CHM and film registration forms and so on, so that every rep can share them, and we are building up a HMD database every year. Also we maintain Best HMD Japan Screenings again this year, which will be on 13th of October.
We’ll make a Best HMD Japan DVD this year, too, which will have a more varied range than last year’s. We prepared a sort of “Letter of Agreement” between the film owner, the rep and FPS, so that in case CHM takes one or two for compilation DVD vol. 2, the letter of agreement can be exchanged between CHM and FPS only.
Honestly, it’s extremely difficult and time consuming to follow all the 12 reps and deal with their questions and problems etc. I’m trying to think of a much more reasonable and easier way to summarise their reports from next year.
One thing I realise is that it seems the reps’ purposes are (roughly) separated into two:
FPS members focus on films which major film archives ignore or are not taking seriously. As we are a very small group, we decided to concentrate only on films as a HMD media. This policy might contradict CHM’s as saving later media is equally crucial.
At the moment, however, we just stick to films, which is the best we can do. If the rep is an FPS member, it tends to be a film preservation-like event. We learn how to deal with films by ourselves. The Home Film Preservation Guide [Japanese version] is still the most useful textbook.
But others are thinking of the content, not the carrier. For them the difference of media (DVD or 8mm, for example) is not that important. Naturally, they think DVD is easier. They do not operate the film projector by themselves, but pay a projectionist and rent the equipment.
Even though such differences occur, I think this is also an interesting way to spread the HMD event in Japan. The average cost of each HMD site is 20,000 yen. The most expensive thing for them seems to be the projector’s lamp. A lot of reps succeeded in finding a venue free of charge.
We all agree that HMD is good fun, and everybody would like to continue it next year.
More reps will be taking part in HMD from 2008, that’s for sure. We are already getting emails from people who are interested.
Event Venue: Bokura no Ie, YupanQui Event time (screening): open 17:00, from 18:00 to 20:45 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 16 Number of people bringing films: 5
Films screened by Gauge: Single 8 or Super 8 : 10
Volunteers: 3 They were: Kentaro Oishi, Hikaru Tsuneta, Hiromi Osaka
Special events/screenings: A week in advance, HMD Hirosaki had a “Living Room Cinema” DVD show in the same venue. Press (pre-event and post-event): Newspaper: Two different local papers showed a fairly big article, one pre- and one post-HMD.
The three volunteers were young students from the Film Club at Hirosaki University. There was an 8mm expert in the audience so he supported the students doing projection. The venue was a cafe up until last year, and was reopened as a regular running cafe this year. They served food and drinks including a special “HMD drink” whose base is apple juice, as apples are Hirosaki’s speciality. Asako joined FPS’ film inspection workshop this year, and inspected 20 reels in advance all by herself and chose 10 out of 20 for the screenings.
The best home movie went to “Shinobu 11 Months, Seven Cups of Rice/12 Months, a Piece of Rice Cake”, which shows the tradition for babies when they just start standing or walking.
Event Venue: Nezu Church Event time (screening): open 18:00, from dusk to 20:45 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 45 Number of people bringing films: 7
Films screened by Gauge: Single 8 or Super 8 : 7 Double (Regular) 8: 3
Volunteers: 11 They were: Momoe Matsusaki (FPS member), Sadanobu Iida (FPS member), Aya Hisamatsu, Yuki Tsukada, Nao Kanauchi, Kae Ishihara (FPS member), Mariko Sasanuma (FPS supporter), Mami Kanda (FPS supporter), Mariko Goda (FPS member), Kenichi & Junko Nabetani, Ryuji Nakayama
Special events/screenings: One Box Used Book Fair
Including volunteers, nearly 60 people took part in this event this year in an old wooden church in downtown Tokyo. Compared with last year, the whole operation was very smooth and people talked a lot over the films. Akio Hata, a film historian and Steam Locomotive expert, has shot SLs from all over the world but this year he showed a super 8 film he took during the Gold Rush in the Philippines in the early 80s. His attention was drawn away from the trains by it and his talk was so vivid. There was also some footage of tram lines shot in our own Shinobazu St. by some other people in various years. We all sighed nostalgically at these scenes, which are sadly gone forever.
The best home movie went to “Keiko, Six years old” brought by two sisters and taken by their late father in the 1960s. According to them their father decided the color of their outfits when the family went out somewhere with a 8mm camera.
Event Venue: Taishido Kumin Center Event time (screening): 13:10 start Event time (inspection): unknown
Total Audience: unknown Number of people bringing films: unknown
Films screened by Gauge: HMD Setagaya screened five 8mm films, and some videos and DVDs. Yasuhiro might choose his own 8mm for the best home movie but it’s not yet decided.
Volunteers: 1 They were:Sadanobu Iida (FPS member)
Tokyo - Kodaira rep. Nozomi Nakagawa (FPS member)
Event Venue: Gas Museum Event time (screening): 14:00 - 16:20 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 9 Number of people bringing films: 6
Films screened by Gauge: Single 8 or Super 8 : 5 Double (Regular) 8: 1
Volunteers: 3 They were: Daisuke Yamada, Sonoko Amano (FPS member), Mami Kanda (FPS supporter)
Nozomi used to be helping with HMD Yanesen but this year she decided to have one in her neighborhood, Kodaira. She was invited by the local radio station in advance to talk about HMD. The Gas Museum was quite helpful in supporting this event, so even if it was rather small-scale the atmosphere was good and and she’s already thinking of next year. Best home movie went to “Okutamaen and Kodaira 6th Elementary School Sports Festival”.
Event Venue: Hachioji city Shogai Gakushu Center Event time (screening): 13:30 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 10 Number of people bringing films: 4
Films screened by Gauge: HMD Hachioji showed eight 8mm films
Kazuhiro has been doing screenings in Tokyo for a long time, but mainly for newly made independent videos or dvds, not home movies or films, so this year was his first home movie experience. There was some mechanical trouble at the end of the show. Everyone has had this kind of projector trouble in the first year and realises how important it is to do regular equipment maintenance.
Event Venue: Sasuke Toyoda Residence Event time (screening): 18:30 - 20:10 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 30 Number of people bringing films: 7
Films screened by Gauge: HMD Nagoya showed eight 8mm films and all of them were single or super 8.
Volunteers: 8 They were: Yasuki Kanamori, Takeshi & Yuko Fujitsuka, Miyuki Takeda, Masako Kitamura, Yoji Hasegawa, Yasuhiro Kawamura.
Press (pre-event and post-event): Newspaper: Two small articles in the local paper in July and August. And after HMD, Satoe wrote an article for the local cinematheque’s journal.
HMD Nagoya had to change the venue from “Shumoku Club” as it has gained cultural heritage status and its use is limited now, but this year’s venue is not far from it and is another historical building. Some films were shown with music (CDs), for example the tune which was a big hit when the film was shot, which was successful. And Satoe was moved by an 83 year old woman who contributed one film although her town is a bit far, and it wasn’t certain that she would really show up. She treasures her late husband’s film collection and her film, “My Town Nakacho”, was this years best home movie. This woman is actually coming to Tokyo(!) for best home movie screenings in October.
After HMD, Satoe sent a thanks you card to everybody who came to the venue to tell them the total amount of donations from the audience (it was over 15,000 yen this year) and the film titles she showed, and which one got Best Home Movie and why, and when the date for the next HMD is.
Event Venue: Lautrec (Cafe) Event time (screening): 19:30 - 20:45 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 13 Number of people bringing films: ?
Films screened by Gauge: HMD Nagano showed eight 8mm films and the gauge is unknown.
The venue was the cafe used as a location for a feature film which was released this summer. They served beer, cream soda and so on. Kenji could not spend enough time on publicity this year, but is thinking of looking for films in the area annually.
Volunteers: 1 They were: Mariko Ogawa (FPS supporter)
Total Audience: about 50 Number of people bringing films: 3
Films screened by Gauge:Unknown
Volunteers: ? They were: Unknown
Press (pre-event and post-event): Newspaper: One article was shown in Kyoto Newspaper beforehand, and HMD was reported on NHK radio and local TV (the DVD is going to be sent to CHM).
Sponsors:The Museum of Kyoto, Shimadzu Corporation, The Kansai Electric Power Co. Ltd., Inabata & Co., Ltd. In cooperation with NPO Kyoto no bunka wo eizo de kiroku suru kai, Kyoto Sanjo Radio Cafe
The venue was a historical place because this is the first place the cinematograph was shown in Japan. The film shown in Kyoto was also quite historical footage showing the old streets and buildings in Kyoto. The best home movie went to “Spring has come” which shows an amusement park in Kyoto, which is set in a cinema studio.
Held on 18th of August
Event Venue: Abenoji Nishinagaya Teranishi Koichi Tei Event time (screening): 18:00 - 20:00 Event time (inspection): in advance
report not yet submitted.
Event Venue: Senkoji Temple Event time (screening): 19:00 - 21:00 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: ? Number of people bringing films: 1
Films screened by Gauge: Unknown
Volunteers: ? They were: Unknown
Press (pre-event and post-event): Newspaper: One article was shown in an Osaka local paper after HMD.
After HMD, Ieyasu was asked to show some old 8mm films to elderly people suffering from dementia, who rarely talk to each other or show any emotions. They suddenly started talking about their childhood memories and the films made them animated, which surprised their families. There are some other people doing similar activities, which is a sort of therapy using old home movies.
Held for two days (11th and 12th), two programs a day=four programs in total
Event Venue: Osaka-shi Minato Kinrin Center Event time (screening): 14:00-16:00/18:00-20:00 Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: 36 Number of people bringing films: 1
report not yet submitted.
Admission 1,000 yen
Event Venue: Kobe Planet Film Archive Event time (screening): open 15:30- Event time (inspection): in advance
Total Audience: about 30 Number of people bringing films: 10
Films screened by Gauge: Single 8 or Super 8 : 5 Double 8: 5 16mm: 2
Volunteers: 3 They were: Yoshio Yasui, Kanta Shibata, Toshihiko Takeichi
Press (pre-event and post-event): Newspaper: Two major articles pre-event in the local paper.
Kobe attracted more than 100 films because of the newspaper articles, and they inspected all of them and chose 10 films to show. The best home movie went to “Illuminated train” which was footage of the tram line shot in the evening.