Home Movie Day Knoxville

The Knox County Public Library’s Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sounds invites the public to share and rediscover Knoxville’s moving image photo album at International Home Movie Day. On Saturday, October 20, TAMIS staff will be available at the East Tennessee History Center to evaluate home movies on outdated media such as film or 8mm tape, screen these media to a community audience, and offer tips for preserving these items for years to come. The archive will also exhibit highlights from its collection, offering Knoxvillians a taste of our city’s fabulous media history.

For the past sixteen years, International Home Movie Day has linked communities around the world in appreciating the treasures found in amateur movies. Home movies are both completely unpredictable and intensely familiar, and viewers may be surprised at how rewarding it is to discover them. For Home Movie Day’s Knoxville chapter, TAMIS will prioritize film submissions, but will also consider video submissions. Participants are encouraged to contact TAMIS to drop off their submissions early, especially if they have a larger collection of films or tapes (more than five reels of film, or more than three videotapes). If participants are familiar with the contents of their home movies, they may want to choose some specific scenes, sequences, or single reels to highlight, and prepare comments for the audience during the film screening. Or, if there’s a particular piece of music you’d like to accompany your film, bring along a CD, cassette tape, or record. The entire family is invited to Home Movie Day, so please choose submissions that are appropriate for all ages. As always, those wishing to donate their films to TAMIS will be provided with free digital transfers.

Please call TAMIS at 865-215-8856 if you have any questions or want to drop off home movies in advance. We will start accepting and inspecting submissions at 11:00 a.m. on October 20, with the screenings starting at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, ending at 4:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided, and the event will be structured as an open house, so attendees can come and go as they please.