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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS

@nontheatricalscms.bsky.social

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Official page of the Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group of @SCMStudies. Sign up for our newsletter! https://necs.org/news/calls-for-papers/new-newsletter-from-scms-nontheatrical-film-and-media-studies-sig

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Feb 18

The votes are in and our new mission statement is live! TY to Jennifer Blaylock, Sophia Gräfe, Tanya Goldman, + Florian Hoof for spearheading the rewrite + several members who provided incisive feedback. We hope this description makes us legible to nonspecialists!
www.cmstudies.org/page/groups_...

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · 13d

#homemovies

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · 14d

Oh how I adore scenes of characters watching home movies (or educational films) in movies. Here from George Cukor’s THE WOMEN (1939)

Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · 29d

For the (marginal) WIN! 🙄

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · 29d

I’m pleased to learn new edition of LOOKING AT MOVIES toned down its dismissal of instructional films (Maybe the authors saw my Tweets?!)

7th edition: "not generally considered worthy of study or analysis"

8th edition: “though they aren’t often analyzed for cinematic language, [they] are studied…

From LOOKING AT MOVIES textbook (7th edition):

“Instructional films seek to educate viewers about common interests rather than persuade them to accept particular ideas…they are not generally considered worthy of study or analysis"

From LOOKING AT MOVIES textbook (8th edition)

“Instructional films seek to educate viewers about common interests rather than persuade them to accept particular ideas…though they aren’t often analyzed for their use of cinematic language, instructional films are studied for their influence on unscripted television, children’s programming, public service videos, YouTube, social media, and other forms of media and communication."

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Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Colln, UGA Libraries @brownmediaarchives.bsky.social · Sep 5

See also "Threading the RCA Projector" on @avgeeks.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXN...
and more on his channel: www.youtube.com/@avgeeks/sea...

Threading the RCA Projector (1960)

YouTube video by A/V Geeks 16mm Films

www.youtube.com

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Sep 4

For your viewing pleasure!

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Sep 4

Not quite sure how demo reels/educational films about how to use a #16mm projector were not on my radar until today but anyway...here’s one from Victor Animatograph circa 1940!
youtube.com/watch?v=BIvO6Z1sP8k

Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Aug 19

Some exciting books from @ucpress.bsky.social of interest to our community are dropping this fall!

The Development Film in the Americas by Molly Geidel +
Pipeline Cinema: The Cultural Infrastructure of Oil Extraction in Iran and Iraq by Mona Damluji

#FilmSky #AcademicSky

Cover of book: The Development Film in the Americas by Molly Geidel

Cover for book:
Pipeline Cinema: The Cultural Infrastructure of Oil Extraction in Iran and Iraq by Mona Damluji

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Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa @benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · Feb 9

Okay, here's another nontheatrical series idea: Films as teach-ins. It could draw from the feminist and antiwar traditions of holding teach-ins and both screen films *of* teach-ins and *as parts of* teach-ins. Everyone watches and then stays to discuss.

Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa @benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · Feb 9

I just watched My Contribution (Sara Gómez, 1972) and it is a must-see for anyone who cares about feminism within revolutionary politics; the aftermath of the Cuban revolution as a historical moment; or documentary as a cinematic form. Just beautiful and edifying all around.

Screenshot from My Contribution (Sara Gómez, 1972)

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Aug 13

We're eagerly awaiting the release of "A Century in 16mm: The Remaking of Cinema" edited by Greg Waller and Haidee Wasson. Coming soon from @oxfordunipress.bsky.social!

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Aug 13

And there's finally a webpage! And what a line up! Happy that "A Century in 16mm: The Remaking of Cinema" edited volume will be dropping soon. My contribution covers trade organizations and the consolidation of the 16mm industrial sector during 1930s and '40s. ⬇️

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Aug 8

Check out this list of 2025 National Film Preservation Fund grant recipients! Home movies, amateur films, travelogues, 'useful' media, and more. A treasure trove of #nontheatricalmedia! 🤩

@orphanfilm.bsky.social @amianet.bsky.social

amianet.bsky.social @amianet.bsky.social · Aug 6

Congratulations to the 2025 NFPF grant recipients!
https://loom.ly/C4q1Scs

National Film Preservation Foundation: 2025 Federal Grant Winners

www.filmpreservation.org

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 28

Love it when viewer’s guides and discussion guides are affixed inside film canisters! Evidence of “useful cinema” in action!

Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Colln, UGA Libraries @brownmediaarchives.bsky.social · Jul 28

We even have the in-can viewer's guide:

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 29

And lastly — Joan Micklin Silver's THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: THE LONG LONG JOURNEY (1972) is also available online. Impossible not to see images and themes here echoed three years later in Silver's feature debut HESTER STREET (1975)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlwQ...

Immigrant Experience The Long, Long Journey

YouTube video by TheSocialStudiesGuy

www.youtube.com

Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 29

THE FUR COAT CLUB and THE CASE OF THE ELEVATOR DUCK — both directed by Joan Micklin Silver — are also online thanks to Skip Elsheimer of @avgeeks.bsky.social!

@marshagordon.bsky.social wrote about them both for Salon a few years ago! Link to her essay ⬇️

www.salon.com/2021/03/13/j...

Joan Micklin Silver in Salon

I wrote an article for Salon, with streaming 16mm films provided by AV Geeks, about Joan Micklin Silver's 1970s New York City short films, "The Fur Coat Club" and "The Case of the Elevator Duck."

www.marshagordon.org

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 29

THE FRONTIER EXPERIENCE (1975) — starring and directed by Barbara Loden, written by Joan Micklin Silver

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW-7...

The Frontier Experience - by Barbara Loden (1975)

YouTube video by Emanuel Lavor

www.youtube.com

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 29

You're in luck! You can find most of the Barbara Loden and Joan Micklin Silver 16mm short films curated by @cinemiasma.bsky.social online! 🧵

THE BOY WHO LIKED DEER (1975) streaming via @avgeeks.bsky.social on YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Gn...

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 27

Did you know Barbara Loden and Joan Micklin Silver both directed 16mm educational films?!

elena gorfinkel @cinemiasma.bsky.social · Jul 27

Rarely screened & vital women’s film history: today
Sun@5:45 in THE WORLD OF BARBARA LODEN @anthologyfilm.bsky.social Loden & Joan Micklin Silver’s 16mm educational shorts. Linda Gottlieb, Learning Corporation producer will discuss LCA history & memories of her friend Silver. Xtra special program!

Reposted by Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 25

Colleagues: please share widely! Precarious Labor Fee Waiver deadline approaching! @scmstudies.bsky.social @videoessays.bsky.social @scmsfaas.bsky.social @scms-tv.bsky.social @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social @scmsmst.bsky.social

Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 23

Co-chair of the Precarious Labor Organization of
@scmstudies.bsky.social here! Application for membership fee waivers is LIVE. Deadline to apply: August 1 by 5pm CT. If you applied before July 11 at 2:30pm, please reapply!

Details re: eligibility + lottery here:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 23

New academic year means it is *that* time again — online compliance training modules! Whenever I give talks about my historical research on #usefulcinema I always mention these videos as contemporary iteration. Useful media is transhistorical, existing across moving image formats and technologies.

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Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa @benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · Jul 11

The quote posts of this are a treasure trove of #nontheatricalfilm and educational media.

Utopia District @utopiadistrict.bsky.social · Jul 11

Name something you remember watching in this!

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 11

Co-chair of Precarious Labor Organization @scmstudies.bsky.social again. If you applied for waiver *prior* to 2:35pm on Friday, July 11, please reapply again at same link. There was an error in the survey and we did not properly capture names of applicants. 🤦‍♀️ Link here:
shorturl.at/nom91

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Society for Cinema and Media Studies @scmstudies.bsky.social · Jul 10

Precarious scholar? Are you thinking of submitting to #SCMS2026 but no institutional support for membership? Co-chair, grad rep, or on an SCMS committee? Apply for a 2025/26 SCMS membership fee waiver from the PLO! Deadline August 1st!
More here: conta.cc/4lrwcdk

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jul 8

Great piece on South Side Home Movie project! Interview by Nicky Ni (@mllecolettex.bsky.social‬) with Jacqueline Stewart!

www.newcityfilm.com/2025/07/08/w...

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jul 2

"A geographical film is cinema as much as Ben Hur. A film designed to teach children the alphabet has as much claim to be considered cinema as a grandiose production with psychological pretensions."

— Jean Renoir, 1974

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Dan Streible 💃🏻🌲🔔 @orphanfilm.bsky.social · Jun 21

CFP: Call for Proposals to present at the 2026 Orphan Film Symposium, "Crisis and Community,"
April 8-11, 2026, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. wp.nyu.edu/orphanfilm/2...

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Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS @nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · Jun 26

New issue of journal SCREEN includes essay by Georgie Carr on recruitment films produced, distributed, and exhibited by police forces in U.K. schools during 1960s and '70s.

"Coercive Cinema Coercive cinema: police film in schools, 1966–75"

doi.org/10.1093/scre...

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · Jun 13

The official CFP for the 2026 Orphan Film Symposium (theme: "Crisis & Community") is LIVE! Consider submitting if this is up your alley. Among my favorite semiannual academic/archive gatherings! @orphanfilm.bsky.social **PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!** See you in Ohio!

wp.nyu.edu/orphanfilm/2...

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Tanya Goldman @tanyagoldman.bsky.social · May 4

Michael M Reinhard's contribution to our "Nontheatrical Medias" special issue @femmediahist.bsky.social puts nontheatrical scholarship in conversation w/ contemporary digital practices via case of sponcon home movies made by LuLaRoe sellers, neoliberal monetizing of the home

doi.org/10.1525/fmh....

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