Screening at MOCAD

This looks awesome! Maybe we could get a group visit together?

I guess this is as good a time as any to let you all know that I don't have a car and I often have to bum rides places, especially places like Detroit. If anyone is ever making the trip and would like some company, please let me know. I'm happy to pitch in for gas and I'm a relatively fun person to be around. We could visit places together, or each do our own thing and meet up later. I'm also thinking about getting a zipcar account for emergencies, so I can return the favor if that works out. Sincerely, Michael

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 7PM
MOCAD is proud to present
Films from Prelinger Archives: Lost Landscapes of Detroit
Admission: Free


All photos courtesy of Richard Prelinger, Prelinger Archives.

LOST LANDSCAPES OF DETROIT;an eclectic montage of rediscovered and rarely-seen archival film clips exhibiting life; cityscapes, labor and leisure from ‘vanishing Detroit’, as captured by amateurs, newsreel cameramen and industrial filmmakers from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. Lost Landscapes aims to offer Detroiters imagery of Detroit's past, free from any sense of nostalgia, in an attempt to provide subject for contemplation as the people of the city build towards a new future.

Unlike most film screenings, Lost Landscapes relies on audience participation for the soundtrack – interaction with the films is encouraged, as questions are shouted out, observations are shared and mysterious locations are identified.

“How we remember and record the past reveals much about how we address the future.” Points out archivist Rick Prelinger, who will be on hand to preface the screening with a brief talk on the value of ephemeral films, on the changing nature of historical memory, and what consequences will arise from the emerging massive matrix of personal records.

Prelinger began collecting ephemeral films -- advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur works -- in 1983. In 2002, his collection of over 200,000 items was acquired by the Library of Congress; many key films are available online at the Internet Archive. In 2004 Rick and spouse Megan opened the Prelinger Library in downtown San Francisco, which includes over 60,000 pieces of print ephemera, books, periodicals, maps and zines and is open to the public.