Raleigh
Sep 16, 2016
What hidden gems lie in those old home movies stashed in your closet? Come to Home Movie Day at the State Archives of North Carolina Saturday, Oct. 15, 1-4 p.m., to find out at this free, public program. Learn the value of those unique cultural and historical possessions and how to save them for future generations. Spend an afternoon watching old films and playing Home Movie Day Bingo. Win prizes and get a free digital transfer of your screened film.
Home Movie Day started in 2002 as a worldwide celebration of amateur home movies. Participants in cities and towns all over the world would meet local film archivists and find out about long-term benefits of film versus video and digital media. Most importantly, they could watch old family films. Home movies are an essential record of our past and are among the most authoritative documents of times gone by.
Rifle through your attics, dig through your closets, call Grandma and discover your family's home movies (8mm, 16mm, Video8 or VHS). Then come to the State Archives, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, with up to two old reels or video tapes. At least one of them will be screened for you and the audience to enjoy. Point out people and places you recognize! As a bonus get a digital transfer (downloadable file emailed to you or DVD mailed) of the home movie you shared. Raleigh Home Movie Day also will feature Home Movie Day Bingo with prizes for the whole family.
If you don't have any home movies of your own, come enjoy the filmed memories of your neighbors. It's fun and educational. Here are a few testimonials:
"We brought footage we had never seen before from our wedding in the 1960s. It was exciting to see us dressed up in our wedding gear, and that adorable flower girl who is, of course, all grown up now."Jerrie Dearborn, Raleigh"My family has had a pile of old films in a cabinet for as long as I can remember. It had been years and years since any of us thought about them. After hearing about Home Movie Day, I remembered the films and brought a film that ended up being a short movie my family made in the 1950s starring my mom as a cannibalistic stalker lurking in a tree!"Anna Bigelow, Raleigh"Years of therapy don't come close to the experience of seeing yourself at age 2, hunting Easter eggs in your plaid overalls."Steve Wiley, Raleigh
Home Movie Day was started by film archivists concerned about what would happen to all the home movies shot on film during the 20th century. They knew many people had boxes of family films they'd never seen. They also knew that many people were having films transferred to videotape or DVD, with the mistaken idea that the digital copies would last forever. Original films can outlast any film or video transfer and are important to our cultural history.
For information on Home Movie Day around the world, visit http://www.homemovieday.com. For information on the local program, visit www.avgeeks.com/wp2/home-movie-day/. Home Movie Day in Raleigh is organized by A/V Geeks (contact Skip Elsheimer at skip@avgeeks.com), the State Archives of North Carolina (contact Kim Anderson at kim.andersen@ncdcr.gov), and N.C. State University Film Studies (contact Devin Orgeron at devin_orgeron@ncsu.edu).
The State Archives of North Carolina is within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.