The term "home movie" may prompt one to imagine endless footage of children running around at a wedding or blowing out birthday candles, and while Toronto's fifth annual Home Movie Day celebration at Cinematheque Ontario's Jackman Hall this Saturday will include such scenes, visitors will also see a couple's trip to Nazi Germany just before the war and scenes from Uganda before Idi Amin exiled Asians living in the country.
The Film Reference Library received more than 500 rolls of film - roughly double last year's draw - and will screen three hours of the lot. On hand to host the free event will be filmmaker Bruce McDonald, who will bring in some of his own home-movie creations.
We talked to five of the 25 chroniclers whose submissions were chosen for this year's screening.
Audrey Orr
Born June 10, 1930
in London, England
The films you brought in were made in the decade after you arrived in Toronto. When was that?
In 1957. I was on my way around the English-speaking world and expected to be back in the U.K. after two years, but I never made it out of Toronto, which was my first stop.
I was told the footage that will show at HMD is of the city's night scene.
Yes, this was just before Christmas in 1963, and it's of lights over restaurants and bars and jazz clubs ... I finished up with the nativity scene outside City Hall, which they haven't done for years due to possible offence to non-Christians.
Why will these films be interesting for the public to see?
What I think is of the most interest is the historical value - a record of a Toronto that's rapidly changed - but [the Film Reference Library]picked the Toronto-by-night scenes because they liked the colour, which I wouldn't necessarily have thought would be a reason to pick it.
Albert and Ruth Edelstein
Born in 1928 and 1925,
in Toronto
What will we see from the footage you submitted?
Albert: You're striking an empty barrel in some ways. We haven't seen it since the time we took it. ... Basically, my recollection is that it was taken when the large helicopter was lifting the final piece of the CN tower into place and putting it on to be fastened to the top of the tower.
Ruth: I know on the box we put Olga, so that means the helicopter was called Olga, I presume.
Why do you think it will be interesting for the public to see?
Albert: Knowing what happened that particular day in the city of Toronto on something that became a landmark to the city and other parts of the world.
Ruth: It was the highest structure for many years, I think.
Albert: I think Asia has beaten it by a few feet.
Mary Mondoux
Born in 1951, in Toronto
The film you submitted was taken by your father, Charles Podger. When did he shoot it?
It's all from 1948. After the war, he took a job as a bookkeeper up north near Hansen, Ont., in the Sturgeon Lake area. He thought it would be a great adventure and up he went, and he stayed there for a couple years.
What kind of scenes did he film?
I've never seen it, but Julie [Lofthouse, the Film Reference Library archivist]said there's really good-quality black-and-white film, first of a man walking on a railway line and also a dog, some steam engines, some people rowing a boat, a mill and a car dealership.
What do you think will be of interest to the public?
It shows the wild North before the Trans-Canada Highway was built - to see the ruggedness and the beauty of it.
Elly Dull
Born Oct. 28, 1933
in Holland
One of the films you brought in, taken by your father, shows a flag with a swastika in Germany just before the Second World War.
Yes, you see a scene of my mother - with a particular couple who are on a train to Chur, a ski destination in Switzerland, and this is when they took the shot you're referring to. I remember as a child that my parents came back and said on almost every street corner there is a swastika and a German soldier in uniform. The build-up toward the Second World War was very palpable and I think you can see a little bit of that in the movie.
What else did he film?
One of the last ones taken, just at the beginning of the war from maybe 1940, is from the Sinterklaas festival. ... [He]is a saint who comes from Spain and his birthday is actually Dec. 6 and he visits the Dutch children. We imitated that in our family living room and I think that was the last one that was taken because on it is a little schoolmate, a playmate of mine, my best little friend, who was about 6 or 7, and she perished in the war.
Vasco Da Cunha
Born Sept. 2, 1936
in Uganda
When Idi Amin exiled Asians from Uganda, you had to leave, but you managed to save these films.
My brother-in-law is English, so he took them to England. We basically came out with a suitcase. That's it for my wife [Tessa Condillac]and myself. My wife passed away very suddenly recently [in 2002]
Is your wife in the films?
Yes, my wife was a teacher in England. She came to Uganda - her father lived there - during a leave of absence. That's when we met, fell in love, and got married. So she didn't go back to Britain. There is a film of our wedding [in 1964] which is interesting because it shows the life we had before the order to leave in 1972.
Did you shoot anything after 1972?
Yes, there's lots of shots in Goa because my parents went back to Goa. That's where we are from. ... I was in Goa to visit them when the Pope visited.
Did you get a shot of him?
Oh yeah. ... When John Paul II arrived there, he was heralded by people singing Polish carols, which amazed him so much, he stopped and joined in.
Home Movie Day takes place at Cinematheque Ontario, Saturday, August 11, 12-5 p.m.
Admission is free. Visit http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca for a schedule of events.