Join us as we celebrate Home Movie Day, presented in partnership with local film conservators and preservation experts. Senior Time-Based Media Conservator for Harvard Library Preservation Services, Melanie Meents, and Film Conservator, Adrianne Jorge, will provide equipment for attendees to view and share home movies in American Ancestors’ historic rotunda with other attendees. They will also share tips and resources for digitizing and caring for your home movies. Watch family memories come to life with the company of fellow family history enthusiasts—and plenty of popcorn!

Planning to bring a home movie to share? Here’s what you need to know:

• Supported formats include 8mm film, super 8 film, and VHS.
• Only one home movie per attendee may be shared. If you are bringing a VHS film, it will be limited to a 10-minute viewing.
• Please bring your home movie to our headquarters at 97 Newbury Street at 12:00 p.m. the day of the program. Senior Time-Based Media Conservator for Harvard Library Preservation Services, Melanie Meets, and Film Conservator, Adrianne Jorge, will examine the film ahead of the program to ensure that it is in good condition for viewing.
• Be prepared to share a few words about your home movie—who is in it, where it was taken, or any other details that you may know.

Don’t have a home movie to share?

We would love to have you in our viewing audience! Please come to celebrate the magic of home movies with others.

Adrianne Jorge is the Film Conservator at the Harvard Library. She has 30 years of technical expertise working in the film industry as a film print inspector and projectionist in a variety of settings such as film festivals, archives, private screenings rooms, and independent cinemas, as well as a background in avant-garde filmmaking, with a specialty in small gauge film, such as Super 8mm.

Melanie Meents works as the Senior Time-based Media Conservator in Preservation Services in the Harvard Libraries. She is a librarian and archivist with over 10 years of preservation and digitization expertise working with motion picture film and archival audiovisual materials. She is passionate about making archival materials accessible for many future generations of users.