If you share these sentiments than check out the
Fifth Annual Home Movie Day at UCSD. People are encouraged to bring their own super 8 films to screen, or you can come to watch films from the UCSD Home Movie collection. The event will also offer tips about preservation. The UCSD event is actually part of a larger movement to celebrate and preserve home movies around the globe.
Home Movie Day is described as "a celebration of amateur films and filmmaking held annually on the second Saturday in August at many local venues worldwide. Home Movie Day events provide the opportunity for individuals and families to see and share their own home movies with an audience of their community, and to see their neighbors' in turn. It's a chance to discover why to care about these films and to learn how best to care for them."
The Home Movie Day website includes a quote from the delightfully low brow John Waters: "There's no such thing as a bad home movie. These mini-underground opuses are revealing, scary, joyous, always flawed, filled with accidental art and shout out from attics and closets all over the world to be seen again. Home Movie Day is an orgy of self-discovery, a chance for family memories to suddenly become show business. If you've got one, whip it out and show it now."
And another quote from the more high brow Martin Scorsese: "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. Consider Abraham Zapruder's 8mm film that recorded the assassination of President Kennedy or Nickolas Muray's famously vibrant color footage of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera shot with his 16mm camera. Imagine how different our view of history would be without these precious films. 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..."
Check out Scorsese's Raging Bull for an example of how filmmakers employ home movies in feature films. -----
