Ephemeral films

721–768 of 19,488 films, free to watch, from the world's open archives.

Where these films come from, and who sees what

Every film here plays from the archive that keeps it: the Internet Archive, Wikimedia Commons, the NASA Image and Video Library, the Library of Congress and Open Images (the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision). Nothing is copied to this site. Each film's page names its archive, links to its page there, and states its licence or status as the archive does.

Archive films carry no age ratings, so each is placed from the collections it sits in and the subjects the archive gives it, cautiously. Sexual content and nudity are left out altogether.

Little OnesFilms for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool.
KidsCartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature.
TweensDocumentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures.
TeensEverything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower.
AdultSexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage.
Internet Archive Discovering Electronic Music 1970 · Educational Portrays the physical basis of music and shows how music can be created and altered by electronic means. Includes music from a sound synthesizer and… Internet Archive F.D.R. and Hitler, the dynamics of power. 1978 · Educational · 26 min · Subtitles Producers, William T. Cartwright and Kenneth Koerner; writer, Anthony Potter; narrator, Eric Sevareid Both Hitler and Roosevelt appreciated the value of mass… Internet Archive Preparation of oxygen.: seven demonstrations 1970 · Educational · 14 min · Subtitles Demonstrates basic methods for isolating one element from other elements. Experiments include: the reaction of sodium peroxide and water, catalytic… Internet Archive Anna Karenina 1935 · Educational Tolstoy's brilliant tale of Czarist Russia about the plight of a woman caught in an archaic social situation make this a compelling love story with Greta… Internet Archive Brian's Song 1971 · Educational Based on the book I am third, by Gale Sayers Producer, Paul Junger Witt; director, Buzz Kulik; screenplay, William Blinn; music, Michel Legrand James Caan,… Internet Archive Joy of Living With Fragrance Short · 13 min Shows what the magic of fragrance can do for every woman. Gives her added confidence, a heightened personality and a uniqueness that is all her own. Tells… Internet Archive The Infinite Voyage: A Taste Of Health 1993 · Film · Subtitles "A Taste of Health explores the efforts of scientists and nutritionists to understand the effects of diet and to improve our lives."-- description from box. Internet Archive Potheads, The 1968 · Film In montage form, this film effectively captures the hallucinatory nature of marijuana smoking; the filmmaker touches on the self-destructive nature of… Internet Archive Snack Bar Mom (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Snack Bar Mom (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :33 Sound: Yes Color Description: 1950s color film that opens with… Internet Archive Classic Dope 14 1995 · Film · Subtitles 8-11-1995. HempTeeV news from April: Dennis Peron’s Buyers Club threatened by DEA. Jimmy Montgomery in prison. Ed Rosenthal in Amsterdam tells how he started… Internet Archive The fat fighters. 1971 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles Director of photography, Robert W. Stum ; editor, Peter G. Czerny 756 ft A group of women is introduced and followed as members of a behavior modification… Internet Archive Little Red Riding Hood 1979 · Cartoon · 13 min · Subtitles Little Red Riding Hood An animated version of the Brothers Grimm tale about Little Red Riding Hood who, in defiance of a promise to her mother, strays off the… Internet Archive Brotherhood of Man 1947 · Film Animated film speaking out for racial tolerance. Using small green demons to caricature racial prejudice, the cartoon argues that the only real difference… Internet Archive How To Build An Igloo 1949 · Educational · 10 min A demonstration of igloo-building in Canada's Far North, showing how the site is selected and how blocks of snow are used to make a snug shelter in only an… Internet Archive Dope 144 1990 · Film · Subtitles Prison Crowding, Drug Driving, Girl gangs, Seka, 48 hours Crack War in Tacoma, Mitchum, Co-dependency. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Willie Brown Pied 1998 · Film Mayor Willie Brown is hit with 3 pies by activists of the Biotic Baking Brigade at a "Clean-up" event in Bayview/Hunter's Point. Internet Archive Cry of the marsh 1969 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles With teacher's guide Director and photographer, Robert Hartkopf; editor, John T. McDonough Shows what is happening to the natural resources when a prairie… Internet Archive Digestive systems in animals. 1971 · Educational · 14 min · Subtitles Author and editor, George Vuke; photographers, George Vuke, Tom Held Compares the digestive systems of a variety of phyla, examining digestive cavities and… Internet Archive Consumer power: advertising 1971 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles Consumer advocate Ralph Nader and advertising executive Ted Factor discuss the morality of advertising, the role of private and public consumer protection… Internet Archive Wonder Jet 1950 · Short · 19 min Behind the jet engine of today lies a story of British pioneering. The development of the jet propulsion gas-turbine. jet engine. Air Commodore Sir Frank… Internet Archive Arrests at HUAC in City Hall 1960 · Film scenes of students being washed down rotunda stairs in SF City Hall during mass arrests at HUAC hearings, May 1960. Internet Archive Read any good meters lately (Watch Your Meters) 1947 · Short · 1 min Surrealist trailer exhorting people to save energy by watching their meters, featuring Richard Massingham. Fuel rationing. Wasting energy. Energy shortage.… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Discovering Electricity" 1990 · Educational SOUND FILMSTRIP IS AN AT-RISK MEDIA FORMAT. I am the only person on earth preserving American filmstrips. The media format is largely forgotten and very… Internet Archive WAR In The Pacific 1995 · Film "The Tarawa Atol was located on the outer fringe of Japan's Pacific defense in the Gilbert Islands....At Daylight, American Navel vessels pounded Tarawa with… Internet Archive The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees 1970 · Educational · 55 min With teacher's guide Introduces Norman McLaren and his work. Shows examples of his multiple exposure effects. Demonstrates how he makes moving pictures… Internet Archive Bushmen of the Kalahari 1975 · Educational · 50 min Also issued as videocassette Shorter version (24 min.) issued under title: The Kalahari Desert people Producers, Dennis B. Kane, Nicholas Clapp; directors… Internet Archive Calumet, pipe of peace. 1964 · Educational · 22 min · Subtitles Discusses the history, legends, uses, rituals, and origin of tobacco and pipes among the Great Plains Indians. Describes traditional methods of fashioning and… Internet Archive Ben and Me 1953 · Educational Tells how a poor church mouse, Amos, guides Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and assists in writing the Declaration of Independence Internet Archive Sociobiology: The Human Animal 1977 · Educational · 27 min · Subtitles Sociobiology: The Human Animal, Reel 1 Reel 2 available here Focuses on sociobiology, a new and controversial science which holds that behavior is… Internet Archive Wheat Farmer, The 1938 · Educational · 9 min Portrays the life and work of a wheat farmer and his family in the Midwest. Shows how they plant and harvest the winter wheat and how they attend to other… Internet Archive The Salvage Gang 1964 · Educational · 52 min · Subtitles Based on a story by Mary Cathcart Borer Producer, Hindle Edgar; director, John Krish; photography, James Allen; editor, David Howes A comedy about a young… Internet Archive Buns Of Steel: Power Yoga 1994 · Film "POWER YOGA combines the muscle toning benefits you expect from BUNS OF STEEL with the stress-reducing benefits of yoga."-- description from box. Internet Archive The Shock of the New: View From the Edge part 2 1979 · Educational · 28 min · Subtitles Nineteenth-century romanticism gave way to 20th-century expressionism and the angst-ridden works of Die Brucke, Munch, Soutine, and Francis Bacon. But with… Internet Archive Shimmy Disc Video Compilation 1989 · Film · Subtitles Shimmy Disc featuring videos and live performances by: Bongwater; King Missile (Dog Fly Religion); When People Were Shorter And Lived Near The Water;… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Filmstrip 1: Introduction to the Heimlich Maneuver" 1977 · Educational SOUND FILMSTRIP IS AN AT-RISK MEDIA FORMAT. I am the only person on earth preserving American filmstrips. The media format is largely forgotten and very… Internet Archive Carlo Middione At Black Cat And Other Clubs 2015 · Film Carlo Middione, who arrived in North Beach as a young man in the mid-1950s, describes what going to the Black Cat was like in those early years of his time in… Internet Archive Drive-in: Save Free TV Film about 47 seconds. suggestion; insert clip before "coming soon" clip when creating drive-in dvd Internet Archive Charley Junior's School Days 1949 · Educational · 8 min Charley junior is told about his future schooldays by a celestial nursemaid. post war education system. Education Act of 1944. new schools. Internet Archive The World at War: 6 -- Banzai! Japan 1931-1942 1974 · Educational · 30 min · Subtitles The World at War: 6 -- Banzai! Japan 1931-1942, Reel 1 Reel 2 available here An elderly Japanese couple are shown going through the religious ritual they have… Internet Archive A Trip through China 1917 · Film A 970-foot fragment, from Benjamin Brodsky’s ten-reel documentary, showing Peking in the 1910s. Preserved in collaboration with the New Zealand Film Archive… Internet Archive Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on 1970s Solidarity Movements in SF 1999 · Short · 1 min Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz interviewed by Chris Carlsson July 6, 1999, on 1970s Central American Solidarity Movements in San Francisco, their influence on and from… Internet Archive DOPE 110 1989 · Film · Subtitles 0 - Oakland bulldozed a crackhouse 311 - Alcoholics Anonymous 513 - Drug free proms 552 - Miami Vice, Ice Cream Man, Izzy's Snake Oil, Bust of drugs for arms… Internet Archive Dr. Carl Gustav Jung 1967 · Educational Producers, John Freeman, Hugh Burnett Dr. Carl Jung discusses his life, work, and philosophy Internet Archive Mole and the Christmas Tree 1976 · Cartoon Made in Czechoslovakia Producer and writer, Zdenek Miler An animated film about a mole who brings a Christmas tree home and invites his friend Mouse to… Internet Archive Kon-Tiki (Motion picture) 1951 · Educational · 33 min 35 mm. version released in 1951 by RKO Radio Pictures. 16 mm. and 35 mm. versions distributed in 1964 by Irving Lesser Enterprises Presents a documentary… Internet Archive General Strike newsreel 2 1934 · Newsreel Pathe News newsreel footage of the first days of San Francisco's General Strike, stores and streets empty. Another similar newsreel. Internet Archive Water Movement in Soils (1959) 1961 · Educational · 25 min Uses time - lapse photography to show how water moves into and through unsaturated soil. Points out how strata, such as hard pans or coarse sand layers, slow… Internet Archive A Home run for love. 1979 · Educational · 46 min · Subtitles From WorldCat: A drama set in the 1940's about a fatherless white boy who learns about friendship and love by sharing his preoccupation with baseball with an…