NEWSLETTER
The public is invited to see and share their own home movies on the big screen
Rochester, N.Y., March 13, 2025— On March 22 the George Eastman Museum will present Home Movie Day, bringing this free, worldwide event to Rochester, New York.
Home Movie Day invites the public to see and share their own home movies with an audience from their community. The community is invited to bring their films and videos to screen or just come to experience the vast array of fascinating amateur movies from the Rochester area.
“George Eastman had the vision to produce smaller gauge motion picture formats to make filmmaking accessible for amateurs,” said Gordon Nelson, assistant curator, Digital Collection and Home Movie Day event organizer. “With the introduction of 16mm film in 1923, followed by 8mm film in 1932, the opportunity for people to affordably document family histories and make their own personal movies became possible. Since that time, home movies have blossomed in ways that might have been unimaginable to even George Eastman, from the VHS camcorder boom in the 1980s to twenty-first century phone-generated clips instantly shared globally via social media.”
Home Movie Day is a chance to discover why home movies are important and how to care for these precious films.
Each film must be checked for damage before being run on a film projector. Faculty and students from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at the George Eastman Museum will be on hand to perform film inspections and project the films. Films determined to be in good condition will be screened. Super 8, 8mm, and 16mm, video (VHS tape), and digital formats (DVD and Quicktime files) are welcome.
More information about Home Movie Day and other locations around the world can be found on the Home Movie Day website.
Schedule
Friday, March 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Early check in with films at the George Eastman Museum
Saturday, March 22 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Check in with films at the George Eastman Museum
Saturday, March 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Home Movie Screening in the Multipurpose Hall
Early drop off may also be arranged by contacting Gordon Nelson by phone at (585) 327-4874 or email at gnelson@eastman.org.
Admission
Museum admission on Home Movie Day will be free for anyone who brings in a film to screen. For those looking to watch, free museum admission is available for members, children (4 & under), for SNAP and EBT cardholders and their families, and for active-duty military personnel and their families. For additional ticket information, hours, and other details, visit eastman.org.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. For more information, visit eastman.org.
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ATTN. Media: High-resolution images for Home Movie Day can be provided by request.
Image: Eastman Kodak Company (Rochester, New York, estab. 1892), The Kodascope giving an indoor movie entertainment. Transparency, gelatin on glass. George Eastman Museum, gift of Eastman Kodak Company.