Rhode Island Historical Society Hosts “Home Movie Day”
It’s been 10 years since The Rhode Island Historical Society hosted Home Movie Day, a public gathering to honor and share family home movies, held annually at local venues worldwide. All are invited to bring their home movies to screen for the audience, or simply to come and watch.
Since creating the full time position of Film Archivist & Curator of Recorded Media and renewing connections with communities across the state, Rhode Island’s own Home Movie Day is back. This year’s screening will be held Saturday, October 19th from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Southside Cultural Center.
Home Movie Day itself began in 2003 as a way to recognize not only the personal value of family films, but also the historic insight they provide. By screening unique home movies from across all of Rhode Island’s diverse communities, a fuller picture of the state’s collective past emerges.
There will be stories, memories, laughs, popcorn, and “Home Movie Bingo” with prizes. Moving image archivists will be there to inspect all materials before projection, and Charter Oak Scanning and Digitization will generously offer on-site digitization of one reel of film for attendees.
The home movie formats accepted are: 8mm film, Super8 film, 16mm film, Video8/Hi8, VHS, DVD, MiniDV, and digital video files on flash drives.
As host, the RIHS will share some home movies from its archives, but Home Movie Day is most successful when the program is created in real time by the people in the room. The event will also serve as an initial meeting point between community members with personal home movies and the Rhode Island Historical Society which plans to expand its collection of these valuable historical records.