THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
AMERICAN SPLENDOR In the 1980s, San Francisco-based archivist Rick Prelinger pioneered the collecting of old commercials and industrial, educational, and government fi lms, which form the building blocks of many of today's documentaries. On this page, scenes from his 2004 compilation ''Panorama Ephemera.''
AMERICAN SPLENDOR In the 1980s, San Francisco-based archivist Rick Prelinger pioneered the collecting of old commercials and industrial, educational, and government fi lms, which form the building blocks of many of today's documentaries. On this page, scenes from his 2004 compilation ''Panorama Ephemera.'' (Prelinger Archives) Prelinger Archives

Home movie buffs

A new generation of film archivists is salvaging history from the attics and ash heaps of everyday life

By Thom Powers
December 12, 2004

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"THIS IS THE CLOSEST thing we have to time travel," says Snowden Becker, a blonde 29-year-old whose fashion sense runs to black lace stockings and granny glasses. She means decade-hopping as a film archivist, not a mad scientist. In fall 2002, Becker and four fellow archivists met for lunch during a Boston conference and dreamt up Home Movie Day, an ... (Full article: 2016 words)

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