By Jacqueline Grima
The team from Manchester Metropolitan University’s North West Film Archive recently hosted an event at Manchester Central Library to celebrate Digital Home Movie Day. The aim of the event was to celebrate the family films of the last few years that were ‘born digital’.
The North West Film Archive, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year, is one of the largest public moving image collections in Britain. Its aim is to rescue and ensure the survival of films and videos about the North West in order to educate future generations about the history of the region. The collection is home to both professional and amateur film footage that dates back to the 1890s, when the first moving images appeared.
At the library event, the archive team invited members of the public to bring along any digital home movies that might be trapped on a mobile phone, tablet or memory card and have them retrieved by experts to enjoy once again.
Director of the North West Film Archive Marion Hewitt said, “Home Movie Day is a global event that happens in October. It aims to encourage people to bring along their own home movies and have them digitised in order to secure their future.”
She added, “Home movies are a kind of social history. They record the changes in people’s social habits. For example, when people began to holiday abroad.”
The event was held in collaboration with Archives Plus and formed part of Manchester Met’s Research in Arts and Humanities (RAH!) 2017/18 programme
The next North West Film Archive event is a screening of Dawson City: Frozen Time at HOME, Manchester on Friday 27th October, part of the Manchester Science Festival. The film pieces together footage from 500 films that were recently discovered buried beneath a sub-arctic swimming pool in Canada. A Q&A with Marion Hewitt, filmmaker Bill Morrison, conservation experts and HOME’s Artistic Director of Visual Arts Sarah Perks will follow the film. For more information, visit the North West Film Archive website.
For more information about the upcoming events in the RAH! Programme, visit www.mmu.ac.uk/rah
Featured image and gallery: Truck Festival For almost thirty years, set within the rolling fields of Hill Farm in Steventon, Oxfordshire, Truck Festival has been a cornerstone of the British festival calendar. Dubbed the ‘godfather of the UK’s small festival scene’, the festival continues to live up to that title, with a line-up packed with…
Featured image: American Football – American Football album artwork The debut album has long been treated as a baptism of fire for artists – the deciding factor that determines whether a band will ‘make it’ or not. Some debuts set the tone for what follows: Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m…
Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra come to the Palace Theatre in Manchester to celebrate the release of their new album, Night Blooms. Liverpool-based Brooke Combe opens the evening with a stripped-back set alongside her guitarist, her soulful vocals instantly captivating the crowd. Blending heartfelt performances with quick-witted…
Featured image and gallery: Sally Stretch Three decades after they first emerged in Manchester, Take That return home to the Etihad Stadium and deliver an unforgettable show, combining circus theatrics and crowd-pleasing hits from across their catalogue. Formed in 1990, the group have released multiple chart-topping albums and embarked on numerous world tours, including 2009’s…
Leave a reply