Michael Holman Family Home Movie #8: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This film is from a collection of home movies filmed by the family of Michael Holman, an important figure in the history of hip hop. It consists of a single reel of 8mm silent acetate film with color (a), an original plastic film reel (b), and an original cardboard film box (c).

The film begins with a series of shots of an unidentified coastline taken from a ship. One shot may feature the Rock of Gibraltar, but it is unclear. Next is a series of street scenes in Tangier, Morocco, which feature daily life and some of the historic architecture in the ancient medina. This is followed by several shots taken from a bus in an unidentified location and a shot from a ship departing Tangier. The next series of shots depict the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Several street scenes in an unidentified city follow this series. The film concludes with a series of shots depicting cave homes in Guadix, Spain. It includes shots of the cave homes' exteriors, a shot of a family living in a cave home, and street scenes in town.

The standard yellow Kodak 8mm film box (c) that accompanies the film has handwritten mailing addresses for processing film in Europe. It also includes brief, handwritten content notes.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1957
• Created by: Pauline Thompson Wood, American, born 1901
• Owned by: Michael Holman, American, born 1955
• Type: silent films
• Type: home movies
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: 8mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film, plastic and cardboard
• Dimensions: Duration: 3 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 50 Feet
• Place depicted: Tanger, Tanger-Tétouan, Morocco, North Africa, Africa
• Place depicted: Guadix, Granada, Spain, Europe
• Place depicted: Alhambra, Granada, Granada, Spain, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Travel
• Object number: 2016.31.3.8.1abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Michael Holman Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.