Celebrating Home Movies

October 2012 marked the 10th anniversary of Home Movie Day, an international celebration of amateur films and filmmaking, and in honour of the celebrations, we would like to share with you some of our most loved films.  Director John Walters once said, “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.” 

The YFA has a vast collection of home movies dating right back to the beginnings of amateur filmmaking.  Many of these films are intimate portraits which give contemporary audiences a fascinating view into the past, allowing them to connect with a history in a way different from any other.  This month, we have selected four new films to add to our Online Collection of home movies.  The first film featured, Hickling Family during the War (1940s), was made by a local businessman in Wombwell includes unique footage of children with their gas masks as well as air-raid shelters and holiday trips to Blackpool.  A decade later and shot on Kodachrome, and A Date To Remember (c.1952) is a film of a family on Guy Fawkes night, with the children getting excited by their fireworks and bonfire.  Following that is Yorkshire Camping and Caravanning Club (1937-1938) which shows campers in the 1930s having a fun time camping and caravanning in a field on the outskirts of Harrogate, during a decade when getting outdoors was the thing to do.  Lastly, Rock Follies (c.1976) again features children, this time dancing in the living room to the family’s favourite records.

If you’re interested in more home movies from the YFA collection, here are a few suggestions for further viewing:

Chapters in Our Lives - Horton Family (1938-1950)

Yorkshire Beaches (1945)

Rays (1944)

Skating and Snow (1936-1953)

A Bedtime Story (1959)

Rural Scenes, This Day, Great Ayton etc. (1960s)

Harrison Compilation (1950s)

Hull Street Scenes (c.1957)

Church Fenton Village Events (1958)

Personalities in Hovingham Village (1930s)

To find out more about Home Movie Day, celebrations in the UK and around the world, visit the official HMD website http://www.homemovieday.com/