FROM THE COLLECTION OF SKIP ELSHEIMER at Light Industry

Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at 7:30pm
Light Industry, 361 Stagg Street, Suite 407, Brooklyn
https://www.lightindustry.org/elsheimer

In 1992, my roommates and I began collecting discarded 16mm films, primarily educational ones shown in schools. Our archive quickly grew to include a wide variety of subjects, many featuring the corny charm of the 1950s and 60s. But I found myself especially drawn to the films from the 1970s that featured children—they seemed to capture the essence of my own childhood experiences growing up in suburban Dayton, Ohio, and later rural North Carolina. These films were created to help children process what they saw and relate it to their own lives. Many depict the difficult decisions and terrifying experiences young kids face. Collecting and screening these films became like a form of therapy for me, offering a way to revisit and understand those moments. I’ve chosen six films from my collection that have resonated the most with me, including one that brings up some particularly traumatic memories.