Abstract

In the popular imaginary, small gauge format home movies have been understood as small, dormant objects whose function and relevance remain fixed to domestic settings and rituals of family reminiscing. However, in the last few decades, scholars, and theorists from a variety of disciplines have introduced new strategies and methodologies of approaching the home movie and have positioned the home movie as a complex archival text that offers rich historical and cultural insights. We can observe these methodologies and practices at work in the various archival institutions and cultural formations which have emerged in response to these new and evolving engagements with home movies. Through a close analysis of the applied methodologies and practices embodied in the working models of two specific home movie preservation initiatives, Home Movie Day (HMD) and Chicago’s South Side Home Movie Project (SSHMP), this thesis aims to identify and demonstrate how, and to what capacity, home movies are transformed and reanimated within these new archival frameworks.

The first chapter maps the interdisciplinary methodologies and archival interventions for approaching home movies that have been emulated through the global HMD model. The second chapter responds to the shortcomings of the HMD model and draws from theories and practices explored in chapter one to critically examine how SSHMP’s archival practices work to reactivate and reanimate black American home movies. This analysis shows that, through these alternative frameworks, we see home movies transform into a series of community engagements, pedagogical tools, artistic exercises, and institutional practices.