This new project, which will run for four years, is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and runs in collaboration with the Scottish Screen Archive (part of the National Library of Scotland).

A major aspect of the project is to locate amateur video makers active between 1980-2000 and preserve and store some of the videos made during this period. The academic research team, based at the University of Glasgow, will investigate this video material to gain a unique insight into the lives of Scottish children in the twentieth century.

What kinds of video are we looking for?

It is our ambition to view material from a wide demographic of filmmakers (such as ethnic minority groups and different class backgrounds) and from a range of different locations across Scotland (the big cities, rural towns, the Highlands and Islands). The films /videos need not focus on children exclusively: the incidental appearance of children may be just as significant to our research. Please note: by ‘children’, a rule of thumb would be up to school leaving age (around 16).

Material we are hoping to discover:
Community videos produced between 1980 – 2000
Films/videos produced for educational projects, civic initiatives, promotional films for charities, possibly medical/public health films, and films/videos about/made in schools
Work produced by cine and video clubs, originally often screened for limited public exhibition (both fiction or non-fiction)
Films/videos produced by other kinds of community projects, such as drama groups
Work produced by children and others for children’s film festivals, or other public screenings

Material we are not looking for:
Home movies (i.e. films made privately by families) will be a marginal aspect of our research. If the films are unusual in either style or subject matter then we may be interested, but this kind of film will not be one of our main priorities