Most of the twentieth century was never filmed by anyone famous. It was filmed by a father with a wind-up camera at a birthday party, by a company documenting an assembly line, by a travelogue crew selling the idea of California to people who had never seen it.
That footage is Thursday’s program.
Pasadena Heritage presents “Pieces of America with Periscope Film” on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. inside the historic 1921 Raymond Theatre. Documentary filmmaker and archivist Nick Spark presents rare historic motion pictures from the Periscope Film Archive, featuring travelogues, home movies, industrial and training films, educational shorts and other nonfiction footage — including rare scenes from Pasadena and the surrounding region.
Pasadena Heritage describes the collected films as an American time capsule, capturing the moments that shaped the world we currently inhabit.
Spark is a Los Angeles-based writer and documentarian with a long-standing interest in unconventional subjects, including the frequently overlooked female protagonist. He produced “The Legend of Pancho Barnes,” about the pioneering aviator of that name. Periscope Film, which he co-founded, works in film transfer, moving 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, Super 16mm and 35mm motion picture film into high-resolution digital formats.
The venue is part of the argument. The Raymond opened as a vaudeville and movie house, and watching century-old film in the room built to show it is a different experience than watching it on a laptop.
“Pieces of America with Periscope Film” takes place Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. Raymond Theatre, 129 N. Raymond Ave., in Pasadena. For more information and tickets, call (626) 441-6333 or visit pasadenaheritage.org.
