Home Movie Day News

Janet Ceja’s report from Home Movie Day 2009 in Pittsburgh:

Event Venue: Waffle Shop

Event time (screening): 7-9 p.m.

Event time (inspection): 4-6:45 p.m.

Total Audience: 26. We also streamed live over the internet and since the weather was lousy there may have been a few people who chose to watch from home.

Number of people bringing films: 4

Films screened by Gauge: 8mm: 6, 16mm: 2

Volunteers: Samantha Le Blanc, Rabia Gibbs, Bo Baker, Sean Kilcoyne, Diana Little, Miriam Meislik, Renee Ziemann, Lindsay Mattock

Press (pre-event and post-event): Press was limited to flyers around town, University of Pittsburgh, and social networking (online and off line).

Movies screened will be described in pairs by subject:

Wedding Reception: There were two 8mm films documenting one audience member’s mother’s wedding receptions. There were two wedding receptions with lots of dancing, socializing and etc. One scene that was striking and that got the audience talking was a shot of a pregnant woman drinking and smoking.

Father: There were two 8mm films documenting one audience member’s father. One was based in a local PA town in which her father is being filmed post a car accident in crutches visiting the junk yard where the car ended up, as well as scenes of him in front of the family owned furniture store and other exterior shots of the town. The second location was unknown, but another audience member identified it as Florida. This film was most memorable for its initial shot where we see a sign on the road that said “No Niggers, Mexicans or Puerto Ricans.”

Kids: There were two 8mm films documenting one audience member’s grandparents, aunts, and uncles as kids at the beach and theme parks in one film, and the other in the woods.

Ed Films: I brought in some educational films that circulated around the Pittsburgh school district. One was titled Bus Nut, and the second Pittsburgh Holiday, Kennywood Park.

A report on HMD 2009 from Martin Koerber in Berlin:

We didn’t really count, but I’d say about 40 people came to see the films, and 12 parties brought in films. Screenshot (a Berlin based company who does professional transfers of Home Movies) supported us again and had installed a demo unit of their new HD Flashscan, so people could see what one can do with Home Movies these days apart from running them through projectors. Many people asked for help in transferring material.

The screenings started with a film about the “Waldbahn” in Muskau, a small gauge (660 mm) train that was first run in 1899 and had been abandoned in the 1990. It has been re-opened by a bunch of enthusiasts and is now running as an attraction for tourists, steam engine and all. Further, we had a lot of baby footage this time, mainly from the 1950s, and the babies, now nearing retirement age, were present to comment. Most of them hadn’t seen the footage for a very long time, and they were moved to see themselves through the eyes of their loving parents, so to speak. We were moved by their comments, which included a lot of cultural and social history which would have been lost to modern viewers without the live commentary. What stuck is the notion that even private footage of this sort can “talk” and made worthwhile, if only the right contextualization is at hand.

Another highlight was a film made in the 1970s in Hadrian’s villa near Tivoli (Italy). A now retired art-historian had recorded this and other archeological sites as what she calles “optical memory” helping her remembering facts and appearances of these places when writing about them. Apart from being interesting because of the topic itself, the footage was extremly beautifully shot.

Two people (independently from each other) brought films they had recorded in their school days in the early 1960s in East Germany, and had recently re-evaluated and re-edited on DVD for a class-reunion. This was interesting too, because it showed they view on themselves then, but also their hindsights thoughts and feelings.

The sensation of the day was a Home Movie from Outer Space, so to speak. The German astronaut Reinhard Furrer had recorded 16 mm footage during his flight on the European Space lab in 1985. We saw the astronauts floating about during their lunch-break, and a tour through the Space lab and the shuttle. Amazing! The footage was brought in by his sister, who had never seen it. Furrer died in a plane crash in 1995 an left the footage as well as audiotapes of his inflight-recorded reflection on his space travel to her. We will follow this up and hopefully aquire this unique material for our collection.

To conclude HMD this year, we showed ELLE S’APPELLE SABINE by Sandrine Bonnaire at Kino Arsenal at 7 p,m in the evening. People who had brought in films received a voucher for a free ticket. The film is a portrait of Sandrine’s autistic sister, and her story is told partly through the use of the Bonnaire’s family films.

Tim Massett reports on Home Movie Day in Duluth:

Event Venue: Zinema 2

Event time (screening): Noon to Four

Event time (inspection): 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 3:00

Total Audience: 7

Number of people bringing films: 2

Films screened by Gauge: 8mm: 3, Super 8: 1, 16mm: 1

Volunteers: Shana David- Massett, Johnathon Olsen

Press (pre-event and post-event): Duluth News Tribune printed one small article.

Well, Duluth has gotten off to a slow start but the highlight goes to Andrew Williamson who brought in 1 400ft 16mm Kodachrome print of an Amtrak ride he took from Minneapolis to Los Angeles via Seattle in 74. It was mainly landscapes. He also brought in a 200ft roll of Super 8 film he shot in Bong Ha, Vietnam before the Tet offensive. It was chock full of really fantastic images of children running along the banks hoping for something to be tossed to them by the soldiers on the boats, woman washing clothes on the banks of a river and folks fishing while explosions could be seen in the distance. Andrew also documented the arrest of an elderly man, who was hooded with bound hands. Andrew talked about how this was a defining moment in his decision to become against the war.

Although attendance was really low, hearing the stories from Andrew while his films were shown must be what HOME MOVIE DAY is all about. Here is hoping that Duluth will catch on for next year.

The other 8mm films screened were films from my wife’s grandfather. Coney Island in the fifties, Purim Party and a rockin Seder.

Thanks to Skip Elsheimer for this report on HMD 2009 in Raleigh:

Event Venue: North Carolina State Archives

Event time (screening): 1-4pm

Event time (inspection): 1-4pm

Total Audience: approx. 85-95

Number of people bringing films: 14

Films screened by Gauge: Not sure of the total but it was predominantly 8mm, 16mm with some super 8. We showed some films that had been transferred to Quicktime files.

Volunteers: Skip Elsheimer (A/V Geeks), Kate Kluttz, Paul Shackleton (A/V Geeks intern), Dave Zahn, Charlotte Walton, Karen Glynn, Anna Bigelow, Z Hobert Thompson (A/V Geeks intern), Stephanie Stewart, Kim Cumber, Marsha Orgeron (NC State Film Dept), Devin Orgeron (NC State Film Dept), Jerry Pemberton

Press (pre-event and post-event): Local NPR radio interview before the event, mention in the News Observer weekend section, article in News and Observer after the event.

Slow motion family, trip to Hershey gardens, Christmas (x3), trip to Europe 1952, Halloween, fire at the KY State Fair, living in France, couple visiting Italy - seeing Mussolini, couple visiting Germany, Autobahn, Hitler in a village. Lots of Italian and German military training, Visiting Paris, big Hitler rally, Johnny Tramaine class project, Raleigh’s Pullen Park, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Korean war films - submarine, Ohio State footage, Vietnam USO footage…

One family (“Gou” I think) who brought the Vietnam footage, aerial ftg and ftg of soldier playing with dog. I think it was shot by the woman’s late husband and she was there with her adult children - I don’t think they had seen the ftg before (Stephanie Stewart).

From Brenda Flora in New Orleans:

Venue: Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center

Screening time: 2-5pm

Inspection time: 11am - 1pm

Audience: 11

People bringing film: 3

8mm: 6, Super 8: 5, 16mm: 5

Volunteers: Brenda Flora, Ian Wood, Yvonne Loiselle, Joshua Smith

Press: Blurb in local free paper, alternative events website, radio events calendar, venue website

We didn’t have a huge crowd, but I don’t feel too bad about it since we were competing with the Jazz and Heritage Blues and BBQ Festival (Buddy Guy played for free!), Steam Train Festival, Land of Nod Experiment Music Festival, and October Fest - all of which were free - plus it was the first bearably cool Saturday of the summer. Keeping that in mind, I think we did okay with 11 people in attendance.

We had way more films than last year, and didn’t get a chance to get through the boxes and boxes that were brought. Hopefully attendees will return with them next year!

The highlight was the 8mm films an attendee’s father filmed while in the Navy. He had a lot of interesting footage from all over the world, but the most interesting reel was the one depicting the Navy hazing ritual that happens when they cross the equator for the first time. Lots of crawling and spanking, a man dressed as King Neptune whose tummy the men must kiss, stockades, and something that looked sort of like a pool of urine the must jump into. It made me want to learn more about the ritual, and made our attendee want to speak to her father about it.

We also had 4 films that were shot this year on Super 8 by two different attendees. Yay!! Super 8 lives on!!

From Genevieve Maxwell in San Luis Obispo:

I hosted a home movie day event in San Luis Obispo, California. This was the first HMD I have ever hosted and the first in this location. Thankfully, it was a big success! We had 40 people in attendance and 14 who had their films screened. Although the event was in SLO, the vast majority were neighbors or former neighbors and friends from the community I grew up in, Garden Farms. It is a very small, close-knit community and the amount of participation was in large part due to the efforts of my mother, Janice, and the fact that some of the films were shot in the neighborhood. There is a great interest in Garden Farms history and preservation among its residents and I was excited to see HMD provide a whole new way of coming together and exploring that history.

One of our biggest highlights came from Billy Wilson, a neighbor who brought in a beautiful 16mm film that he shot in Japan and Korea when he was in the air force in 1946. Another popular film was one belonging to a neighbor, Art Robinson, which featured him as a child in Garden Farms from 1937 to the late 1940s. This was exciting because it gave us all a look at what the neighborhood looked like back then. One film from the 1970s was done as a project for an architecture course at Cal Poly and documented some architectural oddities, particularly in Southern California and Las Vegas.

Overall, I have gotten a lot of great feedback from people who had either never seen the films they brought, or hadn’t seen them for over 30 or 40 years!! I really loved that everyone narrated their film and there was a lot of banter and giggles all round. Thank you HMD organizers and founders for inspiring us to participate in such a cool event!

Venue: San Luis Obispo Senior Center

Screening: 2-6

Inspection: 12-2

Total Audience: 41

Number of people with films: 14

8mm: 7 films, Super 8: 4, 16mm: 3

Volunteers: Janice Maxwell, Jessica Bockelman, Nick Colin, Josh C.

Press: local newspaper the Telegram Tribune and weekly, The New Times, online community calendars, ads in the senior center (venue) newsletter and Garden Farms’ local newsletter, The Gazette.

Films:

Genevieve Maxwell: color,16mm film of me and my mom circa 1983

Wes Burke: 4 color, super 8 films including camping in Texas, Sea World, Six Flags in 1980 and 1977 respectively, waterskiing and Wes on his mini-bike (motorcycle)

John Pinson: color, 1960’s, travel footage, location unknown, family party with dancing, feigned drunkenness and an uncle playing guitar, ends with footage of the uncle’s country band performing

Art Robinson: b/w, 8mm, Garden Farms from 1937 to late 40s

A.A.: b/w, color 8mm, 2 short films of her and her brother as children playing in their yard in a Chicago suburb

Duane English: color, super 8, climbing Bishop’s Peak in San Luis Obispo in the form a Keystone Cops spoof with music

Billy Wilson: b/w 16mm, beautiful film from when Billy was in the airforce, circa 1946 in Japan and Korea

Don O’Daniel: color, super 8, project he did when attending Cal Poly in the 1970s, focusing on architecture of a fanciful nature primarily in southern california

Tao: color, super 8 films of family vacations in Mexico, Jamaica in the late 70s-80s

Kara: color, 8mm film of family camping trips in colorado, shot of her and her friend getting bucked off a horse, a lot of trains and scenery, 1960s

Ron: 8mm, color, shot by his father who was also in korea and japan after WWII, children playing on a see saw, very young girl does a beautiful dance for the camera in traditional Korean dress

Beth Kilimnik: color, 16mm project done for an art class when she was in college, animated drawings done directly on the film

Chris Kelley: color, 8mm, films of her childhood parties and events, such as xmas and halloween, some fun stuff

Jim Ream: 8mm, color, college basketball games and pole vaulting, 1960s, one interesting shot where someone was filming the tv set

John Kelley: 8mm, color, S.F. zoo and family trip to visit relatives in S.F., training at Fort Ord.

Interestingly, despite press in San Luis Obispo, all the attendees were people who live or once lived in the small community of Garden Farms, technically a part of Atascadero. All the outreach to acquire those films was by word of mouth. Many of the participants are planning on doing another screening for other neighbors who weren’t able to attend Home Movie Day. My mother, Janice, who helped me immensely in getting the films together loved the event and is encouraging neighbors to come to us for any help in transferring or donating their films.

From Jennifer L Peterson in Boulder:

Event Venue: Boulder Public Library

Event time (inspection): 2-4

Event time (screening): 4:30-6pm

NOTE: inspection and screening pretty much overlapped the entire day

Total Audience: 30

Number of people bringing films: 12

Films screened by Gauge: 8mm: 2, Super8: 12, 16mm: 7

Volunteers: Emily Shurtz, Jonathan Borthwick, Jacob Barreras, Matt Barats, Sarah Biagini, Jennifer Peterson, Jeanne Liotta, Joel Haertling

Press: flyering, radio interview, press releases sent to the Onion and local papers

We hosted the first ever Home Movie Day in Boulder last Saturday at the Boulder Public Library. Organizers were Jennifer Peterson and Jeanne Liotta. Joel Haertling of the Boulder Public Library made the venue available to us, and also volunteered on the day. Other volunteers were Jacob Barreras, Emily Shurtz, Jonathan Borthwick, Matt Barats, and Sarah Biagini. Our event was funded by a modest financial donation from the University of Colorado at Boulder Film Studies Program, where Jeanne and I both teach. Our event began at 2pm and ended at 6pm. There were 8 people who brought films, and about 35 people in the audience over the course of the day.

We did some local press (sent press releases to local papers and The Onion, plus Jeanne did spoke on the CU Boulder college radio station). Sarah designed a very nice poster and we put them all over campus and around town. Announcements were posted in the Boulder Public Library calendar. We also relied heavily on word of mouth to promote the event.

We expected a small turnout for this inaugural Boulder event, and got it. Even though only a few people from the community showed up, however, we were thrilled by the way our Home Movie Day turned out! People started showing up at 2pm sharp. We intended to inspect films until 4:00 and then begin our screening at 4:30, but in fact we started projecting films at about 3pm, and didn’t stop until the library closed at 6pm. There were a total of 21 films screened, on 16mm, 8mm, and Super 8.

Some highlights:

16mm Kodachrome from the 1950s in Cape Cod and around New England, featuring sailing footage and images of Charlie Whitman, father of current New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.

16mm B/W from the 1930s showing coeds at Amherst College.

Super 8 footage of The Cramps in concert at a tiny venue, from the late 1970s, with nice morning after/hangover footage of audience members.

8mm footage of drag racing. Various films people found at garage sales and church sales, including a great color film about a group of men on a fishing trip in the 1960s, which featured a sequence shot inside the “Glory Hole” bar (which turned out to be filled with charming ladies in beehive hairdos).

An emotional part of the day came early on when a woman showed up with a shoebox filled with meticulously-kept super 8 home movies. There were many reels in the box, but she only wanted to watch two films of her son. It turns out that this son was, that very day, lying in the hospital dying of Huntington’s Disease in his mid-30s. She told us he wasn’t expected to last the night. We watched a film of the son at a tumbling recital as a young boy, and a film of him being brought home from the hospital. The woman quietly narrated what was going on, and then after watching these two films, left to return to her son at the hospital. There were only a few people there at this early part of the day, and we were all moved by this moment.

We played bingo, gave out prizes, and overall, had a very good time at Home Movie Day!

From Homemade Movies:

Toronto - Home Movie Day presented by Homemade Movies

This year we held our Home Movie Day in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood of Toronto at the historic Revue Cinema. The Revue is an old deco movie house that is now run by the non-profit Revue Film Society. The event was co-presented with the Revue Film Society as well as the nearby Swansea Historical Society.

Being invited to present Home Movie Day at the Revue grew out of Homemade Movies’ series of ongoing neighbourhood b.y.o.h.m. or “bring your own home movies” events, several of which have been held in surrounding neighbourhoods.

Our Home Movie Day had both a repair clinic - where people were able to look through their collections, get help repairing films and select a reel to show - and a screening.

We had a lot of 16mm films brought out this time, including work from two large collections. Some highlights included films of: an early Caribana parade from 1970 (now the world’s largest ex-pat Caribbean carnival - a million plus participants come to Toronto each year), family life from Washington DC and Toronto in the 40’s and the Weeki Wachee mermaid show from a trip to Florida.

This year we would like to thank K Raudoja, P Reddick, J Culp, R Cruickshank, R Miyanishi, S Moffat, P Hamiwka, T Bourgette, Images, Pleasure Dome and especially John Porter for all their help.

From Megan McCooley:

Location: The National Media Museum, Bradford, UK

Time: 10am – 5pm

Organizers: Megan McCooley (Yorkshire Film Archive) and Fozia Bano (National Media Museum)

Additional film examiners, projectionists, filmmakers, and special guest speakers: Sue Howard, Alex Southern, Rachel Smith, Binny Baker, Andrew Knight, Michael Harvey, Joe Hepworth.

Publicity: The YFA was able to have articles go out in local newspapers throughout the region prior to the event. Additionally, we were able to get two promotional pieces on BBC Radio Leeds and York as well as a short promotional piece on BBC Look North on Friday, 16th October. Information was also posted on archivist, film, culture, and tourist sites including Screen Research, Film Archive Forum, DigYorkshire, YFA and NMM websites. Additionally, the YFA organized a joint press release with the organizers of HMD London. A few people saw Look North that night and came to see us on Saturday which was great. Finally we had a flyer which was distributed to partnership organizations throughout the region.

Total number of guests: about 40 + 6 families for the Family Filmmaking Workshop

Total number of films brought in: 1 x 16mm, 6 x 8mm, 2 x VHS, 2 x DVD This was the first HMD event in Yorkshire, and one of two in the UK this year. The Yorkshire Film Archive and National Media Museum have worked closely on other projects in the past and felt this would be the perfect location for this year’s HMD event.

A film clinic was open all day and had the capacity for 16mm, 8/super8mm, 9.5mm, DVD and VHS. Just a little bit about the audience – most of them were amateur filmmakers themselves bringing in home movies that they have made or come to see films others like them have made. Many were also members of cine clubs whose collections we hold at the YFA. We had a few people who had not brought in home movies but had wondered up to the Film Clinic just to see what was going on and/or get advice about their own collections. Many stayed to watch the footage from the YFA collection that was being screened. Some of them had collections of their own and were very interested to see the footage being screened upstairs. We also had people mention they saw the Look North piece that went out on Friday and had come to the museum that day as a result. The age range varied of participants as well as the type of collections which came in. We had mostly 8mm films, 6 films in all, 2 vhs tapes, and 2 dvds. Many people were also interested on getting information about how to transfer their own home movies to DVD. The highlight of the day for us was a VHS collection which featured XCLUSIVE, a night club in Batley, in 1984.
HMD Bradford also included other events throughout the museum including two sessions with Michael Harvey, Curator of Cinematography at the NMM, focusing on the technology used to create home movies and highlighting pieces from the Museum’s collection. There were also two presentations by YFA’s Binny Baker and series producer Andrew Knight taking a closer look at the highly successful television series “The Way We Were”, a series completely designed around home movies and amateur filmmakers. Plus there was screenings throughout the day of home movies, and an afternoon screening of films made during the Family Filmmaking Workshop run by Joe Hepworth.

We were also able to get a bit of funding through Screen Yorkshire, to whom we’re extremely grateful. This helped to cover staff and travel costs and especially digitization costs of home movies already held at the YFA and screened on the day. Films screened included family Christmas celebrations during WWII, Kelly’s Eye, a comical film about an amateur filmmaker and the lengths he’ll go to in order to make the perfect film, the National Hairdressing Competition at Alexandria Hall, Halifax 1963, Archbishop Holgate School 1932, and underwater footage from the British Sub Aqua Club in 1956.

For our first event, I would say it went well. We certainly learned a lot and will build on those lessons for next year. Having the event in Bradford also gave us the opportunity to reach a larger audience who may not get the opportunity to travel to the Archive in York. It was great to see some familiar faces from local cine clubs who share the same enthusiasm for filmmaking and were also able to contribute greatly to the day. Unfortunately there was a lot going on that weekend in the region, and much of our publicity only went out the week before, so we weren’t able to reach as many newcomers as we would’ve liked. On the upside, we have had people contacting the YFA within the last week looking to deposit collections or seek advice on preservation of their film and video collections as a result of the event.

From Brian Drischell and Sean Savage:

Event Venue: Linwood Dunn Theater, AMPAS Pickford Center

Event time (screening): 12:00pm-4:00pm

Event time (inspection): 11:00am

Total Audience: 40

Number of people bringing films: 13

Films screened by Gauge: 8mm: 10, Super 8: 8, 16mm: 6, 9.5mm: None, but projectionist Dino Everett brought his museum of 9.5mm projectors and did a demo including the film “The Home Guard” (1941, U.K.)

Video: No way man!

Volunteers: Brian Meacham, Ed Carter, Fritz Herzog, Leah Wagner, Lynne Kirste, Stefan Palko, Tim Wilson, Steve Wright, Amy Jo Damitz, Dino Everett, Meredith Rimmer, Charles Rogers, Jessie Frey, Esther Nam, Jessica Storm, Rhonda Vigeant, Johnny Alexander, Maria Janus, Cassie Blake, Brian Drischell, Sean Savage

Special events/screenings: Evening event, “Hollywood Home Movies II”

Press (pre-event and post-event): some weekly listings, nothing too splashy, plus this bit on IMDb.

Screening highlights:

Volunteer Jessie Frey brought her mom and her great-grandfather’s films. One titled: “Fun with a Movie Camera” had some nice trick effects like a stop motion Xmas tree decoration, and the transformation of Aunt Linda, in housecoat and curlers, into a fully-outfitted majorette after a baton toss in the air.

Military Air Corps footage shot on air base in Orange County, California in 1943. The base was active from 1942-46, but no longer exists. Shot by an officer, the 16mm Kodachrome reel captures shiny new planes on the tarmac and in the air. Also glimpsed are military personnel setting up a radio communication system in empty field.

Academy oral historian and former assistant to Peter Bogdanovich Mae Woods brought 8mm footage she shot during production of “The Last Picture Show” featuring candid shots of Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd in Wichita Falls, TX (though it was sadly underexposed).

The Archive’s Collections Curator Fritz Herzog presented one of his amateur horror epics c. 1970 entitled “The Feast.” Everyone was sufficiently spooked by the high grain b/w night photography and haunting mag-stripe sound mix.

And attendee Roger Brown brought a couple of his mid-’70s productions including “The Goshfather” (their parents wouldn’t let them say “God”!). Though none of the kids involved had seen Coppola’s film, Roger somehow conjured up a pretty convincing Brando impression.