In Another Light: Cinema of Memory: A 10 Year Celebration of Home Movies
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
In Another Light: Cinema of Memory: A 10 Year Celebration of Home Movies
Sunday October 5, 2025, 7:30 pm
At 2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90057
Full info: www.lafilmforum.org
Recorded intro by Jim Hubbard, in person discussion: Brian Belak, Film preservationist and co-curator
Tickets: $15 general, $10 students/seniors, free for Filmforum members
The Al Larvick Conservation Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich heritage of amateur motion pictures, presents this screening series across key venues in 2025–26 in celebration of its 10th anniversary. 
Artistic Impulses: Homemade Narratives and Life is a Cabaret (40 min)
While home movies often capture everyday life, some makers used them to explore wider interests and curiosities. This program highlights grassroots creators experimenting with storytelling, politics, and culture—work that entertains, documents, and challenges. Homemade Narratives traces the evolution of these inventive approaches, while Life is a Cabaret examines performance in home movies, showing how filming itself shapes perspective and meaning. Curated by Kirsten Larvick & Kelly Burton; edited by Kimberly Brown; original scores by Gene Pritsker.
Makers & Presenters: Jim Hubbard (40 min)
This program spotlights filmmaker and artist Jim Hubbard, who brings together three collections reflecting immigrant and LGBTQ experiences. From the Gonzalez family’s post–Bay of Pigs migration, to Mario Perez’s journey through the Mariel Boatlift and New York’s gay community, to Hubbard’s own documentation of Pride Marches and ACT UP, these works share his curatorial vision and lifelong commitment to amplifying underrepresented histories. Curated and edited by Jim Hubbard.
Brian Belak is a Film Preservationist for the UCLA Film & Television Archive, where he works on preservation and restoration projects that range from the silent era to independent and LGBTQ+ cinema. Before moving to Los Angeles, Brian worked at Chicago Film Archives, where he first became involved in amateur film preservation and Home Movie Day events. He serves as Board Secretary for the Al Larvick Fund.
Jim Hubbard has been making films since 1974. Among his many films are Nostalgia, United in Anger, Elegy in the Streets, Two Marches, The Dance and Memento Mori, which won the Ursula for Best Short Film at the Hamburg Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. He co-founded MIX - the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film/Video and the ACT UP Oral History Project. Under the auspices of the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS, he created The AIDS Activist Video Collection at the New York Public Library. He has curated film series for the Guggenheim Museum, the New York Public Library and the Museum of Modern Art.
Homemade Narratives
Homemade Narratives
Homemade Narratives explores the evolution of grassroots filmmaking whose makers utilized consumer equipment to experiment and create work for expanded audiences. Through this lens, the maker becomes a visionary, navigating the intersections of influence, politics, culture, and personal expression to craft something wholly unique. The Dwight Core Collection showcases the documentary films of Dwight L. Core, a Carlisle, West Virginia native and WWII Air Force veteran who worked as a photographer at the Naval Supply Center in Virginia. Core captured family life, the natural world, and local history. His most notable amateur film, Think of Me First as a Person, was named to the National Film Registry in 2006. The Mario Perez Video Collection documents the experiences of Mario Perez, who left San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. After settling in the New York City, Perez began trips to Cuba in 1999. His collection chronicles both countries, preserving personal and cultural history of his own family and his LGBTQ+ community. Additional collections include The James Kilgore Films; Missouri Fiddlin ; The Bill Lewis & Schmidt Family Collection.
Life is a Cabaret
Life is a Cabaret
Life is a Cabaret traverses the diverse landscape of “performance” in home movies. The act of recording motion can inspire and influence its surroundings, just as a performance can direct a maker’s point of view. The Larry Buttwinick Film Collection highlights the life of Larry Buttwinick (1924–2004), a gay Jewish activist and founding member of San Francisco’s Imperial Court. Born in Boyle Heights, he served in WWII before moving to San Francisco in 1954, where he was active in LGBTQ organizations, including the Society for Individual Rights and Lavender Seniors of the East Bay. A surviving 8mm film reel from 1965–1975 captures intimate pre-show gatherings among Buttwinick and friends, offering a rare glimpse into San Francisco’s drag and LGBTQ social scene. The Domarecki-Boskind Family Baltimore Historic Films showcase the home movies of Stephen J. Domarecki (1912–1974). Born to Polish immigrants in New Jersey, he danced in marathons during the Great Depression, eventually meeting his wife, Sheila, a performer with the June Taylor and Stardust Dancers, in Baltimore. His films capture the city's vibrant entertainment scene, including performances at the Hippodrome Theater, the Band Box, and Club Charles. Additional collections include Barbara’s Little House of Flowers; Closet Ball Beta Tape Collection; Casper J. Renner Home Movies; Arthur Virtue Film Collection.
Makers & Presenters: Jim Hubbard
Makers & Presenters: Jim Hubbard
Makers & Presenters: Jim Hubbard – a curated program by guest artist Jim Hubbard (30–40 min)