Dan Streible, film studies, and Laura Kissel, media arts, want people not only to enjoy screening the films but also to learn about the inherent value of home movies and the importance of preserving them.

On Aug. 16, Kissel, Streible, and USC research assistant, Matt Sefick, will host two screenings from noon to 2p.m., at Nickelodeon Theater, 937 Main St.,, and at 8:30 p.m., at the Art Bar, 1211 Park St. Both screenings are free and open to the public.

In addition to informal screenings of the movies people bring in and professional advice about how to care for the most common "small-gauge" formats—8 millimeter, Super 8, and 16 millimeter—each event will feature a discussion on the long-term benefits of film over video. Because the focus of the event is on preserving films, no videotapes will be screened. The Aug. 16 date serves as a reminder that eight- and 16-millimeter film sizes were standard for millions of home moviemakers who recorded life as it was lived from the 1920s until the advent of home video in the 1980s.

"The idea to do a Home Movie Day began with small-gauge film devotees in the Association of Moving Image Archivists," Streible said. "These preservation experts are concerned that people may be throwing away their original films. Video and DVD advertisements mistakenly tell us to 'save your home movies forever' by transferring them to video. Film is fragile but generally has a longer life than videotape."

People who have old films but aren't sure what to do with them also may contact Streible or Kissel before or after the event. Kissel and Streible recently published articles on the historical and artistic value of many amateur films.

"Most of us appreciate the emotional impact of rediscovered family films, but we might think they have no audience beyond our own family," Streible said. "In fact, the millions of feet of film shot by mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles, and friends throughout the 20th century now make up the best record we have of daily life as it was lived during the past three generations."

Among the sponsors of the international Home Movie Day is USC's Orphan Film Symposium, an ongoing gathering of film enthusiasts, preservationists, archivists, filmmakers, students, scholars, and others dedicated to the saving, screening, and studying of neglected films. The next USC Orphan Film Symposium, "On Location: Place and Region in Forgotten Films," will be held March 24–27.

For more information on Home Movie Day, call Streible at 7-9158, Kissel at 7-6677, or Sefick at 7-1216. For more information, visit www.homemovieday.com.

08/03