8mm Forum: Do amateur super 8 films on famous events worth anything?

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Posted by Ilias Sifakis (Member # 2417) on June 26, 2011, 10:43 AM:

Hello all,

I recently bought a quite big lot of what appeared to be amateur films (I say appeared since a few turned out to be official film releases).
What is interesting is the content of some of the reels.

It appeared that all films are from the same family, obviously rich family, around the 60's and early 70's. The cameraman seems to be experienced, most shots are very stable, clear and nicely focused. Colours are vibrant and beautiful.

There are various reels from travels around the world. Very interesting stuff from Japan, Europe, USSR, Maroco, and other countries. Some very good (for amateur) shots and quite a nice selection of scenes.

So, now let's get to the interesting part, or at least to what seemed very interesting to me.
It turns out that I have around 900 feet of footage from Monte Carlo and Les 24 Hours Mans races from 1968 till 1973. I only had time to screen one 400'' reel. Great shots, beautiful colors, lots of cars, extremely lots of billboards and advertising, lots of people, etc etc.
The cameraman did an excellent job, as he/she took shots of the boards with the results of the races and also quite a few shots from newspaper headlines and magazine covers!

I'm quite excited about this find. Even if it doesn't worth anything, I really enjoyed viewing it and I will definitely screen it for friends.

However, I would be very interested to know if there is any chance that this footage is worth something....given that the races are obviously quite well recorded on film and other means...

Posted by Gerald Santana (Member # 2362) on June 26, 2011, 12:25 PM:

Hi Ilias - I'm not an expert on value, but many of these home films serve as wonderful documentaries that reveal the past in unexpected ways. The thrill of finding lost footage is very rewarding. I remember the first time I came home with a box full of 50' Kodachrome films, the descriptions match yours - I thought these films where priceless at the time. Then I got better at hunting down films, we have many places here in the Bay Area, and since then have found hundreds of cans filled with family movies - many which I pass on. There is a "market" for these films, obviously you can can sell them for some money (we bought them), but the resale on these depends on the collector and how the films are mounted and wheter or not they are in order.

I recently bought a film collection from a Bay Area filmmaker that left many home movies behind. Both 16mm and 8mm films were organized, marked by number, detailed cards and the films looked pristine. When I later screened them at home, the locations and and film stock surprised me. I was looking at the Bay Area in 1940 and he traveled around the world filming many events places that have now vanished. The film maker even added his own animated titles and they improved over the years.

Thousands of dollars were spent making these films for his family and others to enjoy. I even bought his projector, a Kodak Pageant that is also beautiful and screened all of his 16mm titles on it. This was the second find I made with films that are artistically different from many of the processed rolls of Kodachrome we find at a flea markets. I decided to give the films sentimental value and will keep them for our film club. The projector is worth around $75 - $100 but I can not come to terms with pricing these films. I've seen family movies on eBay go up as much as $75 for a lot of nice ones, individual ones I've seen for $10. If your films have sound, they could get a little more.

I wish many of the older Hollywood film prints were as nice and richly preserved as home movies.

Posted by Ilias Sifakis (Member # 2417) on June 26, 2011, 01:15 PM:

Hello Gerald,

thanks for your thoughts and the interesting story about the collection.

Actually I'm not thinking of selling these films (at least for now), especially the ones with the races. I bought the lot just because I agree that amateur footage can be extremely interesting.
I'm also thinking of editing some of the films and make some kind of "art" film ...just for the fun of it and to mess a bit with editing.

Anyhow, I'd love to read what other people think.

P.S. I'll try posting some screenshots of the films, but probably not before next weekend.

Posted by Wayne Tuell (Member # 1689) on June 26, 2011, 05:20 PM:

Disney Land home footage with good color can bring decent money if you have any.

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