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Looking at Nature with Dr. G. Clifford Carl

by Dennis J. Duffy

Dr. G. Clifford Carl (1908-1970), Director of the British Columbia Provincial Museum of Natural History and Anthropology for 27 years (1942-69), was also an avid amateur filmmaker who produced several 16 mm films about natural history in the province and its coastal waters.


Spotlight: Chicago Film Archives

by Sheena Manabat

Chicago Film Archives (CFA) is a regional archive that reflects Chicago and Midwest history through conservation, promotion and exhibition of moving image materials.


Amateur Cinema Summer Viewing

by Sheena Manabat

Movie Makers, June 1935, 240.
Movie Makers, June 1935, 240.

​Learn more about five extant and digitized amateur films hand picked by our researchers at the AMDB for your summer viewing.


The Photoplay Amateur Movie Contest

by Sheena Manabat

The $2,000 Amateur Movie Contest was a short lived amateur movie contest conducted by popular fan magazine Photoplay from 1928-1929. Touted as the first amateur movie contest by any publication in the world, the contest offered $2,000 in cash prizes and was assisted in part by the Amateur Cinema League.


The Photographic Society of America

by Sheena Manabat

The Photographic Society of America (PSA) was formed in 1934 from the Associated Camera Clubs of America (ACC of A). The Ten Best competition, originally conceived by the Amateur Cinema League was continued by the Motion Picture Division of the PSA when the ACL dissolved. The PSA renamed the Ten Best Competition the American International Film Festival in 1962.


The Amateur Cinema League

by Sheena Manabat

The Amateur Cinema League (ACL) was the first international association for non-professional moviemakers, fostering amateur filmmaking in North America and beyond. Their Ten Best competition began in 1930; prizes were awarded to the Ten Best films submitted to their organization. The selections became standards of excellence against which later amateur films were compared. The contest ran in Movie Makers until 1954 when the ACL dissolved.


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