Search for film archive

Rye News and the Rye Heritage Centre are joining forces to hunt down old film recordings made in the town, with the best to be put on show locally and saved online in the prestigious Screen Archive South East.

With advances in technology everybody can now film everything they do, but in the second half of the last century amateur film making was also a popular hobby. Rye was no exception with the well supported Cine Club which captured life in the town for many years. Hundreds of hours of reel-to-reel films were made, however much of it has been lost or left to gather dust in lofts and garages, unseen for decades.

That’s something Simon Parsons from Rye Heritage Centre is concerned about. “There aren’t many people with the kit to play reel-to-reel films anymore and I’m often asked whether we can help. Just recently I met Michael Camier whose parents will be known to many Ryers from their motorcycle shop in Wish Ward. Michael’s mother Joan was a prominent member of the cine club and he had a couple of films he wanted to show me. Previous contact with Screen Archive South East meant I knew just who to contact. With Michael’s permission, the film was handed over to them for assessment, digitisation and the original film taken into specialised storage to ensure its secure preservation for the future. That got me thinking there must be loads more films out there, and with the help of Screen Archive South East we could set about collating it and preserving it without people relinquishing ownership. The ultimate aim is to make these films available for public viewing both here in Rye and on the internet.”

For Rye News editor, Nick Forman, it makes perfect sense to help publicise the search. “When you look at some of the footage which Simon found recently you get a sense of how Rye has changed, and what’s stayed the same. I’m hoping we can feature some of the films in the paper once they’ve been digitised. I can’t wait to see what turns up.”

Digitising the film and getting it to the twenty-first century audience is not without its challenges. Film has a shelf life and can deteriorate rapidly, so the search for the amateur recordings is getting urgent. Simon Parsons is urging everyone who used a cine camera or remembers their parents and grandparents filming family occasions to get in touch. “I’m certain there are boxes and boxes of films all about Rye hidden away locally. Can you imagine what we might find? It would be great to bring them to life again, and to celebrate the people and places from Rye’s past at Rye Heritage Centre.”

You can email Simon at rhcmanager@icloud.com and you can see some archive footage, including Joan Camier’s films of Rye and the surrounding villages, by visiting Screen Archive South East.

Image Credits: Joan Camier https://screenarchive.brighton.ac.uk/detail/17818/ Screen Archive South East , Joan Camier https://screenarchive.brighton.ac.uk/detail/17819/ Screen Archive South East , Joan Camier Screen Archive South East .