Amateur films and filmmaking will be the stars of the day when National Home Movie Day 2017 is observed in Athens at the UGA Special Collections Libraries.
National Home Movie Day is a worldwide celebration of amateur films and filmmaking, held annually in October. The event provides an opportunity for attendees to bring in their home movies, learn more about their own family films, how to care for films and videotapes, and how home movies have helped capture personal history.
There will be screenings of home movies the public brings in and from the Media Archives’ holdings, including footage from archivists and librarians at UGA. Attendees are encouraged to bring in their 16mm, 8mm, and Super8 films, VHS videotapes, and DVDs for inspection and screening when possible, archivists will be in attendance to answer questions.
“If you have home movies on film or videotape that you are concerned about preserving, bring them to Home Movie Day,” said Ruta Abolins, director of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. “Too many people see their home movies as just documenting their family; they don’t realize that home movies provide insight into family custom, lifestyle, landscape and history.”