A Home Movie Celebration Comes to South Florida

Saturday, October 24, 2009

1:00PM to 6:00PM

Tower Theatre

1508 SW 8^th Street

Miami, FL

Free Admission and Open to the General Public

The Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at Miami Dade College joins other organizations around the country and abroad in taking part in Home Movie Day, a celebration of 8mm and 16mm home movies and amateur film. Initially founded in 2002 by a small group of film archivists, Home Movie Day was first celebrated globally in 2003. In just a few years it has grown to encompass events in the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Canada and Singapore, as well as the United States.

"Home movies have increasingly become valued as primary source materials for historians," says Barron Sherer, Curator/Preservationist for the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives. "These films, much like moving image diaries of ordinary people, provide a rich view of family and society. Wolfson Archives has hosted Home Movie Day locally since its inception, and while small gauge films are a fixture of our preservation efforts and screenings year round, we celebrate Home Movie Day as it acknowledges the international interest in intimate, personal films that document history and culture."

At the Saturday, October 24th event enjoy a mix of projections of recently acquired and preserved home movies and screenings of documentary films. Archives staff will be on hand to accept donations of family and amateur films for future preservation.

Wolfson Archives has been collecting home movies since 1986 and its collection of amateur films has grown to over 3000 reels. It is recognized as one of the most significant in the United States, with the oldest images dating from 1910. "If you have a box of old 8mm or 16mm home movies that includes scenes of Florida," says Sherer, "please donate them to Wolfson so we can save them for the future and provide you with DVD copy for your family to enjoy.

HOME MOVIE DAY 2009 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

A new and unprecedented one-hour documentary on the remarkable history, and perhaps even more remarkable survival of Miami's landmark Vizcaya is scheduled to air on May 21, 2009 on WPBT2 at 8:00p.m. The documentary, VIZCAYA, narrated by actor and part-time Miami resident, Andy Garcia, is available for purchase for $19.95 at Vizcaya's Café and Shop and through the web site, www.vizcayamuseumshop.com.

"This documentary about Vizcaya is the first of its kind. Never before has an all-encompassing documentary about this National Historic Landmark been created," said producer Linda Corley.

Documentary filmmaker Corley, who has a background in the arts, decorative arts and architecture, has long been drawn to the enchantment, the mystery and the beauty of Vizcaya. "I thought long and hard about it and it is an amazing story, from its envisioning to its completion," said Corley. "When people visit the house, they ooh and aah about the paintings, carpets, tapestries, etc., but visitors don't seem to understand what it took to build the house."

The film details the incredible vision of James Deering in constructing Vizcaya and the astounding confluence of talent that made it possible- and that made it unique in its time as well as today.

Deering, vice president of the International Harvester Company, which produced agricultural equipment for a worldwide market, envisioned Vizcaya as his winter estate. He lived at Vizcaya from 1916 until his death in 1925.

To bring his dream-home to fruition, Deering engaged the assistance of Paul Chalfin, a young New York painter, to supervise the entire project. Deering and Chalfin traveled throughout Europe surveying residential architecture for ideas and design elements, such as doors, wall panels, mantels and ceilings for incorporation into the proposed home. Also engaged to work on the project were architect F. Burrall Hoffman and Colombian landscape architect Diego Suarez.

The house was intended to appear three-to-four hundred years old and as if it had been occupied by several generations of a family. The Main House has 34 decorated rooms with nearly 3,000 art objects, spanning two millennia. The expansive gardens combine Italian and French designs with an American context. Suarez and Chalfin worked for several years, perfecting the design of the gardens as vast and distinct outdoor rooms.

The documentary details the process of designing and building Vizcaya, which was no easy task. The land itself presented a challenge: it was riddled with land crabs, mosquitoes, and alligators. As the house was constructed at the water's edge, pilings had to be built, which at that time, was an astonishing accomplishment of engineering. Employing craftsmen and acquiring materials were also difficult. European artisans returned to Europe during World War I and when the U.S. entered the war in 1917, labor was hard to come by. Architectural materials, priceless tapestries, vases and art were purchased from European dealers.

At the time of Vizcaya's construction, Miami's population was around 10,000. More than 1,000 workers were hired, including laborers and craftsmen from the Caribbean and Europe. In addition to the house and gardens, the complex included a farm, livestock, and a variety of other service facilities covering 180 acres on both sides of South Miami Avenue.

It took almost 10 years to construct Vizcaya- the architecture, gardens and fountains, to acquire the art and to hire artisans to create the masterpiece we now know as Vizcaya. VIZCAYA details not just the marvel of its creation, but also that it continues to stand. Massive hurricanes- that of 1926 and 1992's Hurricane Andrew were but two of the destructive storms to severely damage Vizcaya- and yet it endured.

Deering passed away in 1925. His heirs, Marion Deering McCormick and Barbara Deering Danielson, contacted Chalfin to oversee the first renovation of Vizcaya, in 1933-1934. The McCormicks and Danielsons attempted to open the estate to the public, but another major hurricane in 1935 overwhelmed their efforts. Eventually much of the land was transferred and, in 1952, Deering's heirs conveyed the main house and formal gardens to Dade County. In 1955, the County exercised an option to acquire the village as well. Deering’s heirs donated the estate’s substantial furnishings and art to the County on condition that Vizcaya be used as a public museum in perpetuity.

In order to tell the story of Vizcaya, Corley conducted extensive interviews with a wide array of sources: authors Witold Rybczynski and Laurie Olin; historian Arva Moore Parks; University of Miami professor of Architecture Joanna Lombard,

and Vizcaya curator Flaminia Gennari-Santori. Corley also interviewed heirs of J.J. Bennett, a land surveyor and engineer who was the first man Deering hired and the last to leave the project, and the children of unofficial Vizcaya historian, Eustace Edgecombe, who worked at Vizcaya from 1915 to the mid-1960s.

Overcoming immense obstacles to its building and ongoing challenges, Vizcaya has indelibly imprinted itself upon the history and culture of South Florida. Said Vizcaya Executive Director Joel Hoffman: "Vizcaya has endured many challenges from its creation through to its ongoing preservation. We are now the stewards of this local treasure and National Historic Landmark. And we are pleased to have the opportunity to share the story of James Deering's extraordinary estate with people around the world."

About Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens preserves the Miami estate of International Harvester Vice President James Deering (1859-1925). Built between 1914 and 1922, Vizcaya is one of the most intact remaining architectural examples from the era in United States history known as the American Renaissance, when the nation's wealthy industrialists built lavish estates inspired by the palaces of Europe. Vizcaya was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 for its national significance as an achievement of American Renaissance architecture, landscape design, decorative arts, and art collecting.

Vizcaya features a main house, ten acres of formal gardens, a rockland hammock (native forest), mangrove shore, and soon-to-be-restored historic village that will provide additional venues for programs and community outreach. Vizcaya is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Visit www.vizcayamuseum.org or call 305-250-9133.

About WPBT2

South Florida’s premier public broadcaster, WPBT2, is a community-licensed, not-for-profit media enterprise serving communities from the Treasure Coast to the Florida Keys. WPBT2 provides high quality content from PBS, independent acquisitions and its own original productions. WPBT2’s digital media platform, offers: 2HD, a 24-hour high definition channel; Digital 2.2, a mix of Science & Nature Channel, Culturas, The Florida Channel and Create; Digital 2.3, V-me, a 24-hour national Spanish-language network; and www.wpbt2.org, the WPBT2 website including, Impromp2 (a community blog), the Media Portal (an entrée into digital media) and uVu, a video sharing website. Based in Miami, WPBT2 is also home of the Emmy award-winning national PBS series, Nightly Business Report (pbs.org/nbr).

VIDEO REWIND SCREENING: CARIBBEAN HERITAGE MONTH FILMS

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

1 PM to 2 PM

Miami-Dade Public Library

101 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130

Free and Open to the Public!

On Wednesday, June 3, 2009 The Lynn and Louis II Wolfson Florida Moving Image Archive will screen archival footage in honor of Caribbean Heritage Month. The screening will feature two reports on Haiti from 1966.

“Haiti’s King of the Mountain” is a 1966, WCKT-Miami, profile on Haiti’s dictator Francois Duvalier, in power since 1957, and “President for Life” since 1964. Hallie Salassie, Ethiopia’s king, visited Haiti on Caribbean goodwill tour. Covers elements of Haiti’s poverty and oppression.

“Haiti…Papa Doc and His People“, a March 22, 1966, WTVJ-Miami, report by Ralph Renick, which features a graphic view of Haiti, evaluating the history and future direction of the country. AT the time of this film, Haiti was in its eighth year of rule under Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, a man who supported voodoo and an easily controlled, impoverished, and superstitious people; a man without organized opposition on the island. Papa Doc Duvalier appears in a rare extended interview.

See our latest videos on YouTube

See our latest videos on YouTube

An amateur film (8mm Kodachrome ) donated by Mr. and Mrs. Snow during the last months of unrestricted travel by United states citizens in Cuba. This is one of the last home movies in the Wolfson Archive holdings, from Cuba before the United States travel ban, put into effect in 1962. This film was preserved with funding from the America Film Institute (AFI) and the Film Foundation.

A link on recent reports, regarding the bill to lift the 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba:

Obama to ease Cuban travel ban, not ease embargo

The Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives now has a twitter account! Follow WolfsonArchive at http://twitter.com/WolfsonArchive

Keep up with the Archives’ current projects, see photos, and get links to watch some archival footage on our Facebook page.

This video features excerpts a 16mm kinescope recording from a local Miami, Florida variety show from 1953. The Alec Gibson Show aired regularly at 4PM on weekdays Featured guests include Bonnie Gibson, the host’s wife, who sings “The Breeze”, 17-year-old Val Phillips, who models fashions from the times, and Joe Vallella, who sketches to the Eddie Fisher song, “I’m Walking Behind You.”

This show was sponsored by Coca Cola, Dixie Farms Products, and Amana freezers.

On Wednesday, March 4, 2009 The Lynn and Louis II Wolfson Florida Moving Image Archive screened archival footage of “Our Ten Years” and “Upward Miami“.

“Our Ten Years” is a program from 1966, which celebrates the tenth anniversary of WCKT in Miami and showcases its service through television. This special report includes highlights from the major news stories in South Florida and throughout the world that WCKT covered during their first ten years.

“Upward Miami” is a color kinescope from that sixties that focuses on the Great Miami Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to revitalize the city. This optimistic program consists of interviews with chamber members, and scenes around Miami, focusing on different areas of Miami’s economy. The common theme running through all interviews is that the chamber must act as a catalyst for the growth and prosperity of our community.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

1 PM to 2 PM

Miami-Dade Public Library

101 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130

Free and Open to the Public!

On Wednesday, June 3, 2009 The Lynn and Louis II Wolfson Florida Moving Image Archive will screen archival footage of “Haiti’s King of the Mountain” and “Haiti…Papa Doc and His People.” The screening is free and open to the public.

“Haiti’s King of the Mountain” is a profile on Haiti’s dictator Francois Duvalier, in power since 1957, and “President for Life” since 1964. Hallie Salassie, Ethiopia’s king, visited Haiti on a Caribbean goodwill tour, in order to covers elements of Haiti’s poverty and oppression.

“Haiti…Papa Doc and His People” a 1966 FYI report from Ralph Renick, features a graphic view of Haiti, evaluating the history, and future direction of the country. At the time of this film, Haiti was in its eighth year of rule under Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, a man who supported superstitious people, a man without an organized opposition on the island. Papa Doc Duvalier appears in a rare extended interview.