Oddball Films Media
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Oct 17, 2015
The San Francisco Media Archive and Oddball Films would like to welcome you to Home Movie Day in conjunction with the 13th Annual Worldwide Home Movie Day with a free home movie workshop and inspection and a free screening of offbeat and bizarre home movies. So, bring us your films: 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and even VHS home movies to SFMA where they will be inspected and viewed by HMD projectionists. Following the clinic, we'll be having a free screening of Bizarro Home Movies from the 1950s-1970s that everyone is welcome to attend. The home-made hijinks may include (lineup subject to change) Welcome San Francisco Movie Makers; From Here to Profanity a local amateur film with children acting out adult rolls; way-out contests including Wrist Wresting, Angels Camp Frog Jumping Contest, the ludicrous hi-jinks of ”Front Yard Bob” juggling flaming torches in front of his house, homegrown hippies in Banana Skin Freaks, elderly Tiki girls getting the burlesque urge, Crossing the Equator drag and hazing rituals, whale rendering and other very bizarre and xxx rated “blue” home movies too nerdy and naughty to mention! So bring your own family treasures or just marvel at some one else's for a celebration of amateur filmmaking and home movie preservation.
"There's no such thing as a bad home movie. These mini-underground opuses are revealing, scary, joyous, always flawed, filled with accidental art and shout out from attics and closets all over the world to be seen again. 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."
-- John Waters
Date: Saturday, October 17th, 2015 Screening at 8:00PM, Home Movie Clinic 6-8 or by appointment.
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Highlights Include (Line-up subject to change):
Welcome San Francisco Movie Makers (1960)
Shortly after the introduction of 16mm to the consumer market in 1923, amateur filmmaking clubs sprung up throughout the country. These venues would provide a place for average folks to “geek-out” on everything filmmaking from equipment to shooting techniques to projecting.
This short was shot by San Francisco filmmaker, Dr. Frank S. Zach, serves to not only welcome new members to the local club, but also to teach them basic the basics of how to use a camera and projector.
Wrist Wrestling (1970s, Color)
Watch beefy “wrist wrestlers” battle it out!
Home Movie Hi-jinks with Front Yard Bob (1950s, Color, B+W)
More bizarre home moves unearthed from a local flea market. Watch the ludicrous hi-jinks of ”Front Yard Bob” as he juggles flaming torches in front of his house, later some elderly “Tiki” girls get the burlesque urge!
Sylvia and Mary’s Double Wedding (Color, 1968)
Sylvia and Mary get married in a double ceremony somewhere in Michigan. Fun for everyone, kissing, alcohol and women with beehive do’s!
Strike! and Naked (Color, 1969 by Sternkopf)
Straight from a dumpster this film was shot by a student cinematographer and records the brutal 1969 SF State University protest and strike. At the end of the film an arty naked blonde cavorts with a mannequin in a more “flower power” state of mind.
Banana Skin Freaks (Color, 1960s)
Hippies in Golden Gate Park freak-out with banana skins-you know the fruit skins that supposedly made you high...what else?
From Here to Profanity (Color, 1959)
Children act out the roles from the film “From Here to Eternity” in this kooky short made by an amateur filmmaker.
Crossing the Equator (Neptunus Rex) (1950s, Color)
Kinky tourists dress in drag and suck oysters out of navels as part of the age-old seafarer’s “Crossing the Equator” hazing ritual.
More about Home Movie Day
Home Movie Day was started in 2002 by a group of film archivists concerned about what would happen to all the home movies shot on film during the 20th century. They knew many people have boxes full of family memories that they've never seen for lack of a projector, or out of fear that the films were too fragile to be viewed. They also knew that many people were having their amateur films transferred to videotape or DVD, with the mistaken idea that their new digital copies would last forever and the "obsolete" films could be discarded. Original films (and the equipment required to view them) can long outlast any version on VHS tape, DVDs, or other digital media. Not only that, but contrary to the stereotype of the faded, scratched, and shaky home movie image, the original films are often carefully shot in beautiful, vibrant color—which may not be captured in a lower-resolution video transfer.
Home Movie Day has grown into a worldwide celebration of these amateur films, during which people in cities and towns all over meet their local film archivists, find out about the archival advantages of film over video and digital media, and—most importantly—get to watch those old family films! Because they are local events, Home Movie Day screenings can focus on family and community histories in a meaningful way. They also present education and outreach opportunities for local archivists, who can share information about the proper storage and care of personal films, and how to plan for their future.
The Center for Home Movies is a registered not-for profit organization supported through grants and donations. CHM’s primary mission is to promote, preserve and educate the public about amateur films.
To learn more about CHM, visit http://www.centerforhomemovies.org/
For all press and organizational inquiries specific to CHM or HMD, please contact Dwight Swanson at film@homemovieday.com or 443-630-7089.
More about the San Francisco Media Archive
The San Francisco Media Archive is a non-profit institution dedicated to acquiring, preserving and making available film and related media materials to historians, researchers, imagemakers and the general public. The archive is composed of thousands of film, videotapes, filmstrips and other media materials including important historical and contemporary documentaries, educational films designed to inform, feature films produced for entertainment, independent and avant-garde films by cinematic visionaries, industrial, sponsored films showcasing manufacturing and business, television, and new films including newsreels, television news films, amateur films including home movies, cine clubs and community based films, promotional advertisements and b-roll, outtakes and trims from collections across the world.
We also have concentrated Resource Library of reference books including preservation resources, copyright entry books and educational film listing directories.
To learn more about SFMA, visit
