They're worlds away, where movie magic truly charms the heart, bringing your long-gone grandmother back to life in a halcyon flutter and a moving memory. There she is, ageless and elegant, enchanting guests a hundred smiles an hour at cousin Pinky's wedding, the one where all the bridesmaids wore red-and-white-striped dresses and looked like big, yet delicate, after-dinner peppermints.

Such films are priceless. To you, of course, because you personally know the stars. But surely no one else would care.

Not so. To film archivists, they're irreplaceable historical documents from the mid- to late 20th century, capturing styles, customs, family rituals and even home decor.

Hence the second annual Home Movie Day, to be held at 2 p.m. today in Oakland and simultaneously at sites all over the world. It's a free event in which the public is asked to bring home movies filmed on 8, Super 8 or 16-millimeter film -- not videotapes or DVDs -- to be screened and watched by total strangers.

"Home movies are records of daily life like no other," said Steve Polta, organizer of the Oakland event. "Besides their personal value to the owner of the films, they really document things that are not found in more official histories -- the social rituals of holidays, birthdays, things that happen in families."

Polta said he watched one home movie that was just scenes of the streets of Oakland in the late 1960s. "It showed how people were dressed and the way the community looked at that point in time," he said. "This goes way beyond a home movie of just some person as a baby. It is cultural documentation."

Plus, Polta says, it can be a fun, mysterious and even surreal experience to watch someone else's home movies and wonder about that unseen person behind the camera.

Home Movie Day began in 2002 when a small group of film archivists decided there should be a worldwide celebration of these amateur films. So the event will be held at hundreds of sites today in the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, England and Mexico. This is the first time it's being held in Oakland.

So rummage around in boxes in attics and dig up those old family memories, or even that kooky attempt you made at movie-making, when you put your little brother in the role of Indiana Jones and blew toothpick darts at him out of plastic straws.

The archivists don't keep the films. They just hold the viewing and then give them back. But Polta hopes this will eventually lead to historical depositories for such visual journals somewhere down the road.

And here's a tip: Original films actually outlast any film or video transfer. So don't just make video copies and then throw those old movie reels out. At today's event, archivists will also provide tips on how properly to preserve them.

Home Movie Day is at 2 p.m. today at 21 Grand Gallery, 449-B 23rd Street, between Broadway and Telegraph. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.homemovieday.com or call 893-2801.