Non-Theatrical Moving Image Collections
As the name implies, non-theatrical moving images were typically not originally created for distribution in movie theatres. Materials range from those created for private or limited public consumption to network and community access television programs and industry or government-sponsored media. On this page you'll find a brief introduction to these types of materials, a small selection of archives and other institutions that preserve non-theatrical moving images, a selection of digital collections, and select resources for further investigation. If you don't find what you're looking for, contact your Film & Media Studies Librarian, Laura Treat (ljtreat@ucsb.edu).
Home Movies & Amateur Films
- Calisphere
- California Revealed
- African American Carnival Films (Amistad Research Center & Tulane University)
- The Woman Behind the Camera
- Memories to Light (Center for Asian American Media)
- The Great Migration Home Movie Project (National Museum of African American History and Culture)
- The South Side Home Movie Project (The University of Chicago)
- Texas Archive of the Moving Image (category: "home movies")
- National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF)
- Prelinger Archives (Internet Archive)
- Memoryscapes (The National Family Film Archive, Home Movies Association)
- Home Movie Archives Database
- The Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive (MARMIA)
- Northeast Historic Film
- Chicago Film Archives
- Lesbian Home Movie Project
- University of South Carolina Libraries Moving Image Research Collections
- The Walter J. Brown Media Archives (Home & Amateur Movie Collections)
- Academy Archive Home Movie Collection
The Center for Home Movies is a good place to begin learning more about the movements to preserve home movies. Amateur Cinema and The Amateur Movie Database are good starting points for learning more about the international history of amateur movie making, amateur filmmakers, genres, and movie clubs.
Explore Indiana University Bloomington's Alan Lewis Collection of small gauge movie cameras, projectors, editing and viewing equipment, accessories, and instructional manuals to begin learning more about the technological aspects of creating, editing, and exhibiting home movies and amateur film.
UCSB Library Catalog Search Tip:
Subject: "amateur films"
Don't forget to look at the Non-Theatrical Collection of Trade Magazines from the Media History Digital Library and other Industry Literature.
British women amateur filmmakers : national memories and global identities by ISBN: 1474420745Publication Date: 2018
The Complete Book of Eight mm. (Super-8, Single-8, Standard-8) Movie Making by Call Number: TR850 .Y85 1972ISBN: 0698104617Publication Date: 1972
Main Street Movies: The history of local film in the United States by ISBN: 9780253032546Publication Date: 2018
Military & Government Sponsored Films
United States Signal Corps Film Unit Records (Bernath Mss 139) - includes caption sheets, critical evaluations, and other paperwork relating to films shot during 1945 and 1946 by soldiers serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps film units
- National Archives of the United States (NARA) Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Collections: NARA's collection includes more than 520,400 motion picture film reels, 312,066 sound recordings, and 170,925 video recordings in addition to materials held at individual Presidential Libraries. The majority of their holdings were created by government organizations but also includes donations such as the Universal Newsreels. Search their catalog to find descriptions and digitized copies of films held at the archives or view their topical collections.
Select International Archives
- Irish Film Archive (Irish Film Institute)
- National Film Board of Canada - Not all content is viewable online
- National Film & Sound Archive of Australia
- Swedish Film Institute - A selection of content from the Swedish Film Archives, mainly shorts, non-fiction films, news-reels and commercials; films that reflect the transformation of Swedish society over the last century.