still from “Palmer Square Art Fair,” a home movie shot by JoAnn Elam
The Post Family kindly invited CFA to take part in their month long residency at Comfort Station Logan Square. We’re teaming up with them as well as the Logan Square International Film Series and Northwest Chicago Film Society to present LOGAN SQUARE HOME MOVIE DAY. The concept is very similar to the annual city-wide Home Movie Day event (hosted jointly by CFA and NWCFS each fall), except this time, as you may have guessed…it’s a bit more neighborhood centric.
As always, though, this event depends on YOU and YOUR family or found home movies. We invite those with celluloid (16mm., 8mm., or Super 8mm.) home movies from Logan Square and surrounding Chicago neighborhoods to gather together and share their celluloid histories with neighbors and friends. We’re also asking that those with home movies get in touch with CFA via email (info@chicagofilmarchives.org) or phone (312-243-1808) to have their films inspected before the event. We want to make sure each reel is ready for projection….that’s right, we’ll be projecting your films on film!
In addition to your home movies, CFA will crack open their JoAnn Elam Collection to present Logan Square specific home movies and experimental films from the collection. View the exact program here.
Home movies provide invaluable records of our families and our communities: they document vanished storefronts, questionable fashions, adorable pets, long-departed loved ones, and neighborhoods-in-transition. Many Chicagoans still possess these old reels, passed down from generation to generation, but lack the projection equipment to view them properly and safely. That’s where Home Movie Day comes in: you bring the films, and we inspect them, project them, and offer tips on storage, preservation, and video transfer–all free of charge. And best of all, you get to watch them with an enthusiastic audience, equally hungry for local history.
HOME MOVIE DAY FAQ:
What film formats can I bring to Home Movie Day?
This time around, we’re asking those with Logan Square-centric home movies to get in touch with Chicago Film Archives via email (info@chicagofilmarchives.org) or phone (312-243-1808) to have your films inspected before the event. We can inspect and project 16mm, 8mm, and Super 8. If you have any other oddball formats (28mm, 9.5mm, etc.), we can’t project the films for you, but we can help you find a safe, cost-effective way to view these prints. You’ll also earn our undying film nerd envy.
Do I need to bring a home movie?
Nope. You’re welcome to stop by and just watch other people’s home movies. And if you’re a walking encyclopedia of forgotten Chicago landmarks, eateries, and parades, your commentary will be much appreciated!
I have a whole box of ‘em! Can we watch ‘em all?
Nobody likes a home movie hog. Bring as many films as you’d like, but we’ll be screening one reel from each participant until everyone has had a chance to see their home movies. After that, second helpings are totally fine–especially in Kodachrome.
Do I have to get up and talk about my home movies?
You’re welcome to narrate your home movies and inform everyone that this scene was shot at Aunt Bertha’s high school graduation and that this one was shot on your family trip to Florida in 1982. Or you can just sit in the auditorium and watch them in anonymous silence. Whatever floats your celluloid boat.
Will you take my home movies and never give them back? They’re incredibly precious to me!
Nope. We’ll just inspect and project your home movies and return them to you in comparable condition. (If there are broken perforations or cracked frames, we’ll fix those and return the films in better condition!) Keep in mind that decades-old films are fragile and there’s an inherent (though slight) risk of damage during any projection. If we do not feel that the film can be safely projected, we will not screen it.
Will you take my home movies and never give them back? I don’t want ‘em anymore! (They smell funny.)
The Chicago Film Archives would be happy to discuss options for donating your old, unwanted home movies to its ever-growing collection.
This sounds amazing! How much will this expert consultation set me back?
Home Movie Day is absolutely free, but donations are welcome.
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Comfort Station‘s mission is to present multimedia arts programming that is open and accessible to anyone. The Logan Square based venue hosts monthly art exhibitions, a weekly eclectic music series, weekly film screenings, literary readings, and community workshops.
Logan Square International Film Series (based at Comfort Station) presents classic & emerging foreign films from every corner of the globe, all in their original languages (with English subtitles).
Northwest Chicago Film Society is a 501(c)3 tax exempt nonprofit organization founded in January 2011 by Becca Hall, Julian Antos, and Kyle Westphal, three projectionists and programmers of the late Bank of America Cinema and Chicago projectionists and film enthusiasts. We screen movies every Wednesday and some Mondays at the Patio Theater and host special screenings at Cinema Borealis on an irregular basis. The Northwest Chicago Film Society exists to promote the preservation of film in context.
The Post Family was born in 2007 on a beautiful spring in the small town of Chicago. It’s a resource, gallery, letterpress & screenprinting studio, experimental music venue and a creative incubator awarded and critically applauded by the art and design world. And it’s named after a Christmas card, found mysteriously one day in Grand Rapids, MI.