This is some hardcore family nostalgia mainlined straight into my heart. Yes, it’s 80 minutes. You’ve been warned. Maybe take this in over a weekend. I mean, if you’re family; it’s likely not of interest unless you know us 🙂. This collection of dozens of 16mm home movies was filmed by my Grandpa Awad and my Dad between the late 1960s and early 70s as far as I can tell (Aunt Dorothy will correct me if I’m wrong).
I digitized these some years back and had grand intentions of creating a series of family vignettes. I started the process but was promptly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of footage, so the project got shelved. I finally got around to it again after a gentle nudge (thanks Aunt Dorothy!) but decided to keep it simple this time ’round. I dropped all of the clips on a timeline with little regard for how long it would be. The thing that actually took the longest was sourcing enough music. Since some of my strongest family memories involve the piano, Chilly Gonzales‘ excellent Solo Piano series fit the mood perfectly.
A few stills from the clips that really stood out to me (besides the many, many cigarettes) are below. I find this all so charming and achingly heartwarming to watch. “As Teddy once told me, nostalgia in Greek literally means the pain from an old wound.”
