The first ever international network dedicated to the study of amateur cinema has been set up, reflecting the growing importance of home movies in academic research.
The Amateur Cinema Studies Network (ACSN), http://amateurcinemastudies.org, aims to be a virtual space for the growing number of people around the world who use home movies and amateur films for teaching and research in social sciences. Users will be able to share ideas, find new resources and get information about projects and different archives around the world. The Network will also run conferences and touring exhibitions.
To mark the launch, a clip from one such amateur film, which features rare and important footage of Gurkhas being recruited by the British Army in the 1950s, is being released on the Network’s new website, http://amateurcinemastudies.org/editors-choice/
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Image: Gurkha recruits awaiting inspection c.1950. The never-before-seen footage has been released to mark the launch of the Amateur Cinema Studies Network, http://amateurcinemastudies.org
Credit: Frankie WIlliams Collection © CSAS
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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Candid camera
20 June 2012
After years of being overlooked as a film genre, amateur cinema is finally being recognised by academics as a form that merits serious study in its own right, offering a surprisingly candid eye on people and the past. Now a new research network will, for the first time, bring their work together in one place.