Amateur and home movies are valuable historical documents

Which is why the Chicago Film Archives has made the collection and preservation of home and amateur films a central part of its mission.

Home movies

Home movies are an important visual record of our history - not just our family’s history, but also our cultural history. Home movies can show us things that regular history books and documents overlook: the way a midwestern family decorated their home in 1957; the games that kids played together in 1934; the kinds of community events and activities we took part in 1971. Home movies provide a visual record of lived history- a record that we must work to preserve for future generations.

Amateur films

Another kind of non-professional film that we are working to
document and preserve is the amateur film. Made by devoted
hobbyists who honed their cinematography and editing skills,
amateur films cover all sorts of topics and genres - from fiction
and comedy films, to documentary, travelogue and experimental
subjects. But what all amateur films share in common is their
motive- making films for the love of it. Throughout much of the
20th century amateur cinema clubs flourished in the United States and brought together these movie makers to share their work with each other and to collaborate on group projects. But whether made in groups or singularly, amateur films are fascinating (and often beautiful and entertaining) stories of our time, our society, and our encounter with the new technologies - like movies - that changed the way we see the world.