What once was Lost in 16mm is found

TEN hours-worth of historical sixteen-millimetre film showcasing Ballarat and Melbourne in the 1970s is set to be digitised, and you could help make it happen.

H Squared Studios director, Rex Hardware was recently sent a box of film by Susie Gamble. It’s the collection of her brother, former BTV-6 personality, Peter Gamble, and some of the film features the channel’s old children’s character, Benji Bunny.

“I haven’t used 16-mil projectors for 25 years, so my first task was to find a projector in good condition on eBay. I got one and the test runs went really well,” he said.

“Then I was contacted by someone who had worked at GTV-9 in Melbourne. A friend of his had passed away; a 16-milimetre enthusiast. His entire collection was donated to me, including a Bell and Howell projector, a film splicer and empty wheels.”

Mr Hardware cleaned the machines and ran more tests, discovering all the film documents 1972, locally and in Melbourne.

Within the reels is vision of Bakery Hill’s Sunshine Biscuit Factory, the Village Drive-In in Sebastopol, Green’s Pies in Main Road, a guided tour of the BTV-6 station and much more.

Now, the Lost in 16mm project is digitising it all to share with the community via Trades Hall.

“We also want to return it to the BTV-6 archive, which is held by WIN Television, and they’re hoping to then pass it onto the National Film and Sound Archive.

“We’re very lucky to have found the film now and that it still plays. Film becomes brittle at the 50-year mark and the material is 48 years old,” he said.

Suggestions were made to apply for a digitisation grant, but Mr Hardware knew he could process it all independently, and that’s what he’s doing.

“I’m asking an enthusiastic audience to give as much as they can afford, even if it’s $5 or $10, just to cover some of my time.

“I’ve chosen not to do a certain amount of work to digitise this film. It’s probably going to take 80 hours, so I’m raising the funds to replace my income,” he said.

“It’s all been unseen for 48 years, and no other footage exists of some of the material. It’s very exciting and extremely rare to come across film so varied and valuable like this.”

Visit paypal.me/rexhardware if you would like to help protect this history.