11-3 p.m. Saturday, October 18, 2008
Urbana Free Library
210 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
"Saving our film heritage should not be limited only to commercially produced films. Home movies do not just capture the important private moments of our family's lives, but they are historical and cultural documents as well… Home Movie Day is a celebration of these films and the people who shot them. I urge anyone with an interest in learning more about how to care for and preserve their own personal memories to join in the festivities being offered in their community..."
-Martin Scorsese
Do you have old 8mm, Super8, or 16mm home movies stuffed in a box somewhere? Join us on Saturday, October 18, from 11:00 to 3:00, to learn how to preserve your filmed memories as we host the third annual Home Movie Day at the Urbana Free Library, in partnership with the University of Illinois Library.
Home Movie Day will offer a "film clinic" for assessing the condition of older films, information about how to care for family films and videos, and, best of all, continuous screenings of home movies brought by participants. Archivists will show examples of historic films preserved in their collections, and preservation specialists will explain why transferring films to video or digital media DOESN'T mean they'll last forever. Anke Voss of the Champaign County Historical Archives will also be on hand to discuss how you can donate your home movies to the archives. We will also have a kids’ table where young people can create their own hand-drawn animations on clear 16mm film and see their work projected on the big screen! Guests can bring their films for assessment and cleaning beginning at 10:00 and throughout the event. Screening of the films will begin at 11:00. Please bring your films by 2:00 in order to ensure that we can show them by the end of the event at 3:00
Home Movie Day began in 2003, when a small group of film archivists decided to go beyond traditional preservation methods to try and save the countless reels of home movies shot on film during the 20th century. Home Movie Day has grown into an international celebration of homemade cinema!
The Preservation Working Group at the University of Ilinois
The Urbana Free Library
For more information about the 2008 Champaign-Urbana Home Movie Day, contact Jimi Jones at
jjones7@illinois.edu or (217) 244-9901.
