City: Venlo
Event Venue: Limburgs Museum, Venlo
Event time (screening): Saturday October 27th 2012, 11PM – 5PM
Event time (inspection): same
Total Audience: 30
Number of people bringing film/video: 12
Number of films/video received: 27 video tapes
Films screened by Gauge:
VHS, HI8, Betamax, DVD.
Volunteers (No. and names):
LIMBURGS MUSEUM:
Frank Holthuizen
Eddy Tielemans
Frits van Aarssen
John Bongers
Kees Smit
Harrie Vaessen
Frans Janson
JANSSEN FILM & AUDIO SERVICES (VENRAY):
Hay Janssen
Ans Janssen
Jelle van der Meer
MISC volunteers
Tim van der Heijden (PhD candidate, connected to the NWO-project “Changing Platforms of Ritualized Memory Practices: The Cultural Dynamics of Home Movies”)
Special events/screenings:
– Nader tot Maxima, documentary by Albert Elings and Eugenie Janssen, compiled of footage by 120 people who were present at the royal wedding in Amsterdam, 2002.
– Pinkpop 1970-1974, amateur footage of the first years of this pop festival in Limburg, Holland.
– short fiction movies recorded in Venlo, 1959-1961 and 2011
– various documentary amateur productions on subjects concerning Limburg history and daily life, 1950s and 1960s
– Compilation of home movies shot by the photographer Werner Mantz between 1940 and 1960 in and around Maastricht.
Press (pre-event and post-event):
• Omroep Venlo, radio – interview
• Omroep Venlo, television – interview
• L1 Radio – interview
• Dagblad De Limburger – preview
• Free weekly papers – press release
• National media mentioned in the HMD report Amsterdam
Other publicity:
• Websites of filmclubs, museums, news-magazines etc
• Free cards and flyers
• Social media
Report submitted by Frank Holthuizen
The Home Movie Day at the Limburgs Museum, Venlo, was organised within the scope of the Amateur Film Platform project (www.amateurfilmplatform.nl). The aim of the project is to make a diverse and broad range of amateur films of four Dutch archives available online. Together with project leader The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision and the two other regional archive partners, four HMDs were organised within the scope of the project. Unique about these four days was that the focus lay exclusively with video, since one of the main project goals is to save amateur recordings from the video era (+/- 1980-2005) before it is too late. The target of the project is to acquire 100 hours of new material.
?In Venlo, the effect of this one day was – in terms of quantity – modest.
Within a variety of some video formats, VHS, Hi8, Betamax and DVD, material was brought in on subjects in the region of Venlo / northern part of Limburg, specially dating from the 1990s. Some of the material was more or less unknown, like the first gig of a regionally famous band, or video recorded during the dramatic flood of the river Maas in Venlo, 1994. Also family topics in the early ’90s, and videos on communal life and music or carnaval associations.
Some visitors mentioned their 8mm film material they didn’t bring, but looking at the subjects of this material, we were not surprised very much, because our film collection still exists of a wide range of professional and amateur film, which can be divided in broad themes. There were also owners who contacted us to tell us they have interesting material at home, which we can pick up to go through.
A selection of this material will be made ready for access on the Amateur Film Platform in 2013.
It is our aim to try and acquire more video on themes that are somewhat underexposed. This will be done the coming months by contacting the makers / owners directly, instead of waiting for the next Home Movie Day. The effect of this first Home Movie Day in Venlo was positive in terms of publicity and profile, and a good kick-start for the Amateur Film project.
See also the event reports of the other Home Movie Days of the Amateur Film Project:
• 13 October, Groningen, GAVA
• 14 October, Rotterdam, Stadsarchief
• 20 October, Amsterdam, Sound and Vision
Project URL: www.amateurfilmplatform.nl