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The scenes filmed a half-century ago with Kodak Super 8 cameras were Detroit family keepsakes -- mementos of street life, neighborhood activities and a historic turning point that summer.
Scene from a late July 1967 home movie by Ray Grudzinski, posted on YouTube by WSU's Reuther Library.
Now some of the vintage 8-millimeter and 16-millimeter home movie reels -- pulled from attics, basements and closets -- are transferred from celluloid to digital format, edited into narratives and ready for public viewing to mark the 50th anniversary of Detroit rioting in July 1967.
Detroit Film Theatre begins 17 screenings Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Future showings are at that time on Thursday or Friday nearly each week through June, and in a "marathon screening" on Saturday, July 29. (See the schedule here.)
Footage shot by amateurs was gathered during a year-long project called "Detroit '67: Looking Back to Move Forward." It's a collaboration by the DIA, Wright Museum of African American History, Wayne State's Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Detroit Historical Society, Bridge magazine and the Free Press.
Detroiters and ex-residents were invited to lend "home movies made around 1967 that depict everyday life in Detroit's diverse communities." Some films will be archived at the Reuther Library and Wright Museum, and all donors got a DVD of their originals.
A Knight Foundation grant supports the project.
DFT admission is $7.50 for museum members, seniors and students, and $9.50 for others. A five-film pass costs $35. The box office number is (313) 833.4005.
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