The South Side Home Movie Project at Northwestern University seeks people with 8mm, Super8mm, and 16mm home movies for a study of South Side history and culture.
Home movies are often dismissed as “amateur” photography. However, they contain a wealth of information about everyday life and public events from the perspectives of community residents. Unfortunately, these fragile films and the memories they evoke are in danger of fading if they are not preserved.
We invite participants to share their South Side films and the stories behind them. Our activities include conducting interviews with participants, creating a digital archive, and hosting community-based screenings where audiences can see and discuss these unique historical treasures.
By pulling home movies out of closets, basements, and attics, participants in the South Side Home Movie Project will help researchers and future generations to see the rich history and diversity of Chicago’s South Side.
Why do we want old home movies?
Home movies document people's everyday lives. By watching old home movies, we can see how people dressed and behaved, celebrated and interacted. Home movies give us some of our best glimpses of family and community histories, and inspire us to tell our own stories. We want to get them out of closets, attics, basements and garages across the South Side and share them with a wider public.
What are we going to do with the movies?
We want to preserve them to ensure that they will survive for generations to come. We also want to create a viewable collection for scholars and the general public.
How can you participate in the South Side Home Movie Project?
You can choose any of the following options:
Have your film(s) inspected -- If you have the original film reels, we can assess their condition (if they are torn or shrunken, if they can be projected).
Participate in an interview -- With your permission, we will record an in-depth interview with you and/or others (for example, family members) who can talk about the footage in some detail. We will provide a set of questions in advance and give you some time to recall names, dates and locations that help to describe the footage.
Contribute to the digital archive -- Have your home movies featured in our digital archive - a website displaying the films and information about the people and places they document. The archive could also include our interview with you and other materials that can help provide context for the movies (for example, family photographs and neighborhood maps). To participate in the digital archive, we would also bring your original film reels (and any supporting materials) to campus to make digital copies.
Screen your films -- We would project one or more of your films (if its condition permits) at a casual public screening where you and other donors, the scholars working on the project and the audience will have the opportunity for an open dialogue about what we see and the memories these films evoke.
Home Movie Day is an annual world-wide event organized by amateur film lovers
to celebrate the home movies of your community. Whether it’s on 8, Super 8 or 16
millimeter, each film demonstrates a rich heritage of people's neighborhoods, cities and states.
The goal is to project these films on a screen for all to see and teach others how to properly
store films for future generations.
Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture
The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC) at the University of Chicago is
an interdisciplinary program dedicated to promoting engaged scholarship and debate around the
topics of race and ethnicity.
Film Forever
Provides simple guidelines
for preserving motion picture film materials outside of specialized
archives, with a focus on storage at home.
Little Film
Technical assistance about amateur motion picture film.
Northeast Historic Film
Dedicated to preserving the moving image history of northern New England,
Northeast Historic Film is an archive, a theater, and study center located
in Bucksport, Maine. NHF has extensive amateur/home movie collections and
is viewed as a model by many local film preservation projects.
Encyclopedia of Chicago
The Encyclopedia of Chicago is a dynamic and unprecedented record of metropolitan history.
Includes thousands of historical resources including articles, photos, maps, broadsides
and newspapers related to Chicago's colorful and complex history.
The Internet Archive
Includes extensive moving image collections available for download. Check out the "Prelinger
Archives" or just do a search for "amateur" or "home movie" in the "moving images" category. Chicago Film Archives
Established in 2003, this new archive is committed to the acquisition, care, restoration and
exhibition of films that express Chicago's history, culture and character.
South Side Home Movie Project
Professor Jacqueline Stewart
Department of Radio/Television/Film
Northwestern University
email@southsidehomemovies.org
847-491-5185
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