What Home Movies Reveal About Life on Chicago’s South Side – ryan

In a screening room at the “South Side Home Movie Project” Exhibit at the Logan Center for the Arts on the University of Chicago Campus, Images of 20th-Century South Flash Across a Screen.

HOLD A DIAPER-CHANGING CONTEST. A Group of Teens Mails a diy Zombie Flick. A toddler rides a toy rocking horses on Christmas Morning.

The Prophet Represents Two Decades of Work by Jacqueline Stewart, Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Uchicago, to Collect Home Movies from South Families. Through her “South Side Home Movie Project,” she has gathered more than 1,200 films dating back to the 1930s. The films are like mini time capsules, depictting families, community events and life on the south going back Nearly 100 years.

Her interest in Home Movies Started in 1999 at A Film Conference Called The Orphan Film Symposium, Where the Movies Screened As Part of A Large Focus on Nontheatrical Films.

“As a film scholar, of Had not formally learned About Home Movies or Taught say in my classes, yet it was a practice of filmmaking that just seemed to me,” Stewart Said. “IT WAS REALLY INTATIONATE AND PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE ACROSS The 20th Century for SO MANY FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES.”

Stewart, who was Born and Raised in Hyde Park, Wondered About Home Movies in Her Community. The Films Are Unique, Because Stewart Only Collects Home Movies Shot on Actual Film: 8mm, 16mm and Super 8mm. Her Project Not Only Focuses on Screening Home Movies But Also the Restoration and Digitalization of Old Film Reels.

In the exhibit, the reels of film and the Old-School Cameras are as Much of a draw as the Movies. The Cameras used to shoot the films, some of which are nearly 100 -ear-op kodaks, are on Display. All the films in the Collection were Shot before smartphones or events camcorders have been invented.

“We’ve Noticed that we were actually project one of the films on an 8mm or super 8mm Projector, Young People Are Sometimes Looking at the Projector More Than they look at the actual film, Becuses it such a novelty,” Stewart Said.

The Cameras used to shoot the collection’s home movies only shot video – swimming audio. That means the films are sorent silent. The Home Movie Project Partner with Local DJs and Musicians, Such As Jamila Woods and Chicago Poet Laureate Avery R. Young, to Score the Films. On a recent visit, sounds of a house-infrused instrumental version of the jackson 5 hit “I want you back” filled the space as images of a family party project on a Wall.

The Gallery Space is Painted in Bright Colors, inspired by chicago artist and architect amanda Williams ‘Project’ Color (ED) Theory, “which Incorporated Shades from Her Life on the South. The suppliture in the gallery, bearing the same color schemes, was donated by local-maker and conceptual artist Norman Teague. Stewart Said These Elements, From A Pair of Well-Known Black Artists, provides a sense of comfort, elegance and connection to Black Design History.

Rashieda Witter, Who Moved to Chicago Eight Months Ago and Was Visiting The Exit, Said the Project is Both essential and timely.

“Its beautiful. Its absolutely stunning. “We’re living in a time that feelings more heigtened under this current administration, where Black History and Narratives are under attack, and there are very real Attempts to Erase and Silence Black People’s Contributions to this Country. Our Own Stories. ”

Asced which video in the exhibit has Stood out, Witter pointed to a movie from a couple who documented their daughters grown up.

“Its just beautiful to see the fashion of the time,” Witter Said. “They were some Fly Little Kids, so that one definitely caught my attention.”

In Many Ways, Viewing the Fills Feels Like Staring Into The past. The People, The Fashion, The Toys, the Cars – Everything on Film is from a Different Period, Ranging from the 1930s to the 1980s. Stewart Said they Invite Families to Watch the Films Before Putting The Film on Display for the Public, and the Reactions are priceless. Keep in Mind: Most People Don’t Have 8mm Projectors, so in Many caesses these films are being for the first time in a Very long time – and in some case for the first time.

“When you show someone, for the first time in decades, the footage of their Mother Holding say as a baby, these are realy Touching Scenes,” Stewart Said.

And Stewart Knows Firsthand How It Feels to See Family Members in a Decades-Old Film.

“I was surprised to learn that my own uncle, Charles Merrifield, Made Home Movies. “I was able to see Footage of my Own Family: of My Cousins ​​when they was younger and my mom when she’s 16 years old, doing the wattusi. It was really incredible.”

Mike davis is a Theater Reporter Who Covers Stages Across Chicago.