Found Movies: Art in the Attic

On Saturday the Toronto Star printed an article by entertainment reporter Murray Whyte called "Found Movies: Art in the Attic." It's about a new genre of film art, the home movie. These "found films" that were once of only personal significance have become objects of social documentary and unique perspectives. In our reality program-oriented, and phones-as-recorder [read: nigh voyeuristic] culture, documentartians and filmmakers are going beyond contrived narratives and filmed scripts to use the footage that has been captured by non-filmmakers.

There's a great quote by Whyte about these films:

"As a view into a world that was, home movies offer a different perspective, not of world leaders and grand events, but milestones of the personal scale: birthdays and Christmases, first bike rides and school plays, against the backdrop of the ever-changing world. It is everday life, unfiltered, fascinating in its mundanity."

I'd also say it's a primary document of social history. As film historian Ian Fila points out "the art and the preservation of home movies is a happy marriage...Home movies are probably the single largest untapped resource of images of life in the 20th century that exist, and finally, historians are recognizing their significance."

Another good point is made: "Celluloid, unlike videotape, can survive for decades virtually unvarnished." Perhaps not totally true, but the principle is there.

Some of the subjects and provenance of films mentioned in the article come from 1) 15 years of home movies of a young girl named Catherine from 1937 to 1952; 2) home movies of an anonymous family's trip to Mexico in the 1950s; 3) a 1940s air show; and 4) portryals of Jewish life during the Nazi occupation of Europe. Just think how powerful it is now to watch a home-made movie of the construction of the World Trade Towers!

Some of the players in this area mentioned include: Ian Fila and Jonathon Pollard, film historians with Home Made Movies (Toronto) [ed: no website found], Littlefilm.org, Oldfilm.org (Northeast Historic Film), and Filmforever.org (Home Film Preservation Guide).

The Association of Moving Image Archivists started "Home Movie Day", an annual event. So many people, doing so much good work for their own benefit and everyone's enjoyment...a good start to today.