Home Movie Day at HFA

Home Movie Day will be at the Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, Room B04 tomorrow, from noon to 3:00 pm. You can drop off 8mm, Super 8, or 16mm film starting at 11:00 am. For more information, go to the official Home Movie Day website.

Movies need a few scratches and grit. The new technologies of the day make movies seem almost too smooth and clean, but imperfect conditions make a movie more like a dream or a memory instead of the hyper-reality to which people have been accustomed. Tomorrow afternoon, you can get your fix of old-style moviemaking during Home Movie Day at the Harvard Film Archive.

Much of the excitement comes from the fact that the audience won't know what it's going to get. They might see tender nostalgia, like the Rosenblatt Wedding, or they might see some seriously weird stuff that will eventually wind up at a Found Footage Festival. In a quotation on the Home Movie Day website, moviemaker and bad-taste icon John Waters says, "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."

What a dirty mind he has! But, seriously, if your Grandpa had a secret passion for bodybuilding and happened to capture his fitness routine on film, by all means "whip it out"! Just so you know, the Home Movie Day FAQ recommends that people who are worried about the surprise element of Home Movie Day should "consider taking an aisle seat so you can leave the room quietly if something icky shows up onscreen."

Even if you don't find your parents' Grand Canyon Super 8's all that exciting, the people behind Home Movie Day can look at your footage and give you tips on how to preserve it.

Image of the Rosenblatt Wedding from 1945 from the Home Movie Day website.