Links and bibliography
On this page you will find further resources on the subject of amateur film: from international initiatives such as "Home Movie Day" and regional film archives to books that explore the history of amateur film in depth. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for other interesting websites or books!
Websites
Center for Home Movies
Every year, the Center for Home Movies organises Home Movie Day, an international event where people can share and screen their own films and discover the cultural value of amateur films.
Cinémathèque des Pays de Savoie et de l'Ain
The Cinémathèque des Pays de Savoie et de l’Ain collects and archives films from the Savoie and Ain departments and makes them accessible to the public through screenings, exhibitions and educational programmes.
Open Memory Box
The Open Memory Box collection of GDR 8mm films – comprising over 400 hours of footage in total – offers a glimpse into ordinary everyday life in the GDR beyond the Wall, the barbed wire and the Stasi.
MIRA – Mémoire des Images Réanimées d'Alsace
Since 2006, the MIRA Film Archive has been collecting and archiving amateur films from and about Alsace, digitising them and making them available via the internet as well as through public screenings, exhibitions and research projects.
SAVE – Sicherung des audio-visuellen Erbes in Sachsen
Since 2019, the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) has been involved in the SAVE state programme, which aims to preserve, digitise and make available historical film, video and audio recordings from Saxony.
Schmalfilmkino • Ralf Forster • Berlin
Ralf Forster’s collection includes films in the narrow-gauge formats 8mm, Super 8, 9.5mm and 16mm. In addition to short documentaries and animated films, the collection also focuses on home movies and amateur films.
Books
Greif zur Kamera, gib der Freizeit einen Sinn. Amateurfilm in der DDR.
Using numerous examples and films (on an accompanying DVD), Ralf Forster illustrates how amateur films from the GDR were created amidst a tension between conformity and freedom, thereby offering a vivid picture of people’s lives, ideas and aspirations. edition text + kritik, 2018, 510 pages.
Familienkino: Geschichte des Amateurfilms in Deutschland
In this short series of books (Volume 1: 1900–1930, Volume 2: 1931–1960), Michael Kuball describes how amateurs used technical innovations to capture everyday life, travel and family events on film. Rowohlt Verlag, 1980, 380 pages in total.