About GS8D (long)

Its never too cold for hot super 8 films, All NIZO on ice, Hamburg 1997

The goal of the GS8D is to show that Super-8 lives! We would like to show this on one day with many simultaneous S8 events around the globe, to set a sign for Super-8, to reconnect the S8 community, to further strengthen it and to draw the attention of the general public to the values of Super-8 film in the past, present and future. The GS8D provides a framework that you fill in and design on location with your own Super 8 movies and S8 events. GS8D is a decentralized, international independent film festival – thanks to you!

We expect Super-8 events in arround 100 cities from 50 countries participating in the GS8D2021. This can be by screenings, installations or e.g. with a workshops.

straight 8: one super 8 cartridge no editing since 1999

The GS8D2025 wants to set another example for the artistic and independently produced Super-8 film. The GS8D wants to

  • promot the preservation of the artistic Super 8 films from history and contribute their screenings in front of an audience.
  • underline the aesthetic value of Super-8.
  • contribute to the preservation of Super-8 as one of the analogue film formats and to the renaissance of analogue photography and film work.
  • emphasize the educational value of Super-8 film work in order to learn to work in a concentrated manner.
another 20th anniversary: straight8 this year at Cannes and London

Who organizes the GS8D?

The GS8D was developed as an idea in Hamburg by All NIZO in 1998, organized from Zurich by Bildstrich for the first time in the year 2000, very successful. In the following years too, smaller and larger GS8Ds, especially in 2005 and 2015, were always organized from Switzerland. Now, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, All NIZO is taking the initiative and organising the GS8D itself for the first time – essentially from Basel, Switzerland. For this, proven S8 activists of the past could be won over for preparation and implementation, as well as straight8 from London, in order to bundle forces further. The committee includes Beatrice in Zurich by Bildstrich/super8.ch, Cornelius and Patrick in Hamburg by All NIZO, Ed in London by straight8 and Lutz now in Basel (ex Hamburg) by All NIZO. We all had or have a lot of very good times with Super-8. We are united by our love for S8.

44th independent-street-film-screening at Millerntor-Stadium from
FC St. Pauli Hamburg in june 1999 in front of arround 3.000 spectators with one of the rare 500 watt super 8 projectors

The GS8D-Commitee organizers were always completely independent from the beginning, without any sponsors. The GS8D2020 committee understands that there are individual large and small companies that benefit significantly from this day of action. That is also desired and finds its justification in the fact that these companies maintain and preserve Super-8 with their products and services. But since they benefit in this way, they are out of the question as closest partners and/or sponsors. Also, in order to exclude possible conflicts of interest from the outset. Only, without the use of these products and services for artistic S8 films, these offers would be uninteresting. The GS8D2020 committee maintains its independence. Web hosting and other costs are covered by other sources.

Local S8 enthusiasts worldwide organise their events autonomously and see for themselves whether they need and want to win sponsors for their own S8 events, so that the events become possible.

The 44th independent-street-film-screening at Millerntor-Stadium in june 1999
was the only open air All NIZO screening ever with admission

Bref history: In 1965, Kodak launched the Super-8 film. The novel film-cassette system made loading a camera child’s play and the worldwide success took its course. At least one generation of family fathers enjoyed wives (conversely, it has hardly been handed down), children and grandparents with S8 cameras loaded at all times when looking for Easter eggs, at the beach and on a skiing holiday. As early as the late 1960s, art and film students and later completely independent auteur filmmakers discovered the narrow film format for their artistic and experimental expression. The Super 8 film was about two golden decades away before the advent of video technology in the mid-1980s dug the water out of the narrow format.