My family never had one of those cool home movie cameras, but perhaps yours did. Don’t let those old reels or tapes gather dust in your parents’ garage. Your parents’ old movies of birthday parties, family reunions, and graduations are valuable records of the experiences of Asians in the United States. The Center for Asian American Media is looking for old home movies for its project Memories to Light: Asian American Home Movies.
Our mission is to present stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences and home movies are an unacknowledged, and yet rich, part of that history,” said CAAM executive director Stephen Gong. “We hope to inspire future generations and connect them to the past and to the visual record of how earlier generations became Asian American.
The project, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Cal Humanities, seeks to preserve home movies from all over the country, providing a more authentic media image of Asian Americans than the stereotyped images that have persisted in mainstream commercial film and television history.
I bet someone in your family has movies like this stored away. And stored in the fluctuating temperatures and humidity, such as a basement or attic, those films will deteriorate in 50 years. But properly, films can last hundreds of years. So as you gather with relatives during the holidays, this is a good time to round up those old home movies or encourage your loved ones to send theirs in to be shared with the archive.
What are they looking for? Home movies, originally filmed in 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm formats
What happens to the home movies? The Center for Asian American Media will work with Internet Archive to create high-quality digital copies to share online.
Do I get anything? Donors will receive a digitized DVD and professional high-resolution file of their home movies.
How do I participate? Visit the Memories to Light website for more details and an online submission form.
To see an example of a home movie that’s been accepted into the Internet Archive, check out this clip from the Brian Gee Family Collection.
Very cool project! Too bad we don’t have any old footage though. :(