The Home Movies Association, the national home movies archives, was set up at the start of the 2000s in Bologna to organise the study, archiving and promotion of amateur filmmaking and home movies in Italy.

In 2008, the team launched the Archivio Aperto festival, an experimental space for reflection on the public use of private images held by the association, but also on the possibilities for re-creation using the archive as material. Traditionally, the event starts each year on UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, 27 October.

This year, the programme follows the “audiovisual archaeology” of the city of Bologna with interviews, screenings and installations, but also continues its exploration of experimental filmmaking through the rediscovery of historical figures (Nato Frascà, Stan Brakhage) and the introduction of contemporary artists (Jasper Rigole from Belgium). In a spirit of openness, the festival covers many different subjects and approaches: a lecture on women and home movies by Sara Filippelli, an installation celebrating the inventive titles thought up by amateurs ( Expanded Archive – Titles), a screening based on wedding films (Matrimonio all’Italiania) and a screening with live musical accompaniment based on films from the First World War (Fronti by Roberto Paci Dalò), etc.

Full programme available here.

Archivio Aperto also highlights the work of the Home Movies Association with an open day at its premises and another dedicated to the introduction of its work to professionals (Archive Fever). Lastly, the association has launched an online subscription in an attempt to finance a platform for consulting its film collections online: financial contributions can be made up to the start of December.