Ephemeral films

769–816 of 19,486 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 Lay My Burden Down 1966 · Educational · 59 min Producer, Jack Willis Surveys the accomplishments of the civil rights movement during the one year after the dramatic Selma-to-Montgomery march and the… Internet Archive Tom Mooney in San Quentin 1933 · Film Tom Mooney, filmed by his defense team in San Quentin, appeals for a new trial or a death sentence, rather than the endless years in jail... he had already… Internet Archive DOPE 066 1988 · Film · Subtitles DOPE 66, Feb 1988. Andy Warhol & Reagans, Velvet Underground, AIDS Patient Zero, AIDS vaccine, Black Widow, coke O.D. coma, CHOWs, AIDS Commission forecasts,… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Romeo and Juliet Acts III, IV & V: "Thus with a kiss I die" (Copy 1)" 1975 · 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 Remember 1973 · Educational · 53 min from WorldCat: For many men and women the war was the most memorable experience of their lives. This program asks whether it was worth it. Written and… Internet Archive DOPE 046 1987 · Film · Subtitles Ollie North, stolen AIDS tapes, women IVDU AIDS, Mrs Dukakis drug-free, SDS protests of 1960s, Port Huron, Lady Blue, LSD in water supply, MTV anti-crack ad,… Internet Archive Glass houses. 1972 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles A series of deeply personal testimonies from individuals recounting their experiences with drug use and addiction, likely part of a 1970s or 1980s drug… Internet Archive Buttmaster 1995 · Film "Buttmaster does for your butt what Thighmaster did for your thighs"-- description from box. Internet Archive DOPE 017 1987 · Film · Subtitles Betty Ford movie stars Gena Rowlands, Home on the Range (Hoot Gibson 1934), Smokebreakers, Jabba's hookah, Cotton Club, John & Yoko & Timothy, lack of AIDS… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Advice On Lice And Life Part 1 (Copy 1)" 1985 · 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 Collage. 1972 · Educational · 15 min · Subtitles With guide Director and cameraman, Stellos Roccos; art director, Herbert Paston Summary Presents the work of John Sennhauser, an artist and craftsman who is… Internet Archive Kifaru --The Black Rhinoceros 1970 · Educational · 51 min Follows biologist John Goddard in the first major scientific study of the black rhinoceros, a "prehistoric relic" believed to be facing extinction. Includes… Internet Archive Voyager: Grand Tour 1990 · Film Produced by Martin Marietta. Ken Colby Animationvor interactive pictures from Voyager 1 and 2 missions with sound bytes from Dr. Ed Stone, Andy Ingersoll and… Internet Archive DOPE 032 1987 · Film · Subtitles St Elmo's Fire, Road House (smoking, 1948), Iran-Contra, Linus Pauling, Desert Bloom, AIDS blood spatters, 1960s protests, Steroids, Nomads (1985). See scans… Internet Archive Great Railway Journeys of The World: Zambezi Express 1981 · Educational · 26 min · Subtitles Great Railway Journeys of The World: Zambezi Express Reel 2 Historian Michael Wood travels from Cape Town to Victoria Falls on the luxurious Blue Train, and… Internet Archive The Day The Universe Changed: 8 - Darwin's Revolution 1986 · Educational · 55 min Title from data sheet Host, James Burke In two parts Ages 16 through adults Reveals how Darwin's writings undermined the concept of an orderly, unchanging… Internet Archive The Boy King 1986 · Educational Cataloged from contributor's data Howard Rollins Issued also in longer version (47 min.) Takes a look at the early life of Martin Luther King, Jr.,… Internet Archive Introduction to Development 1983 · Educational Photography, Clarence Flaten, George Vuke ; editor, George Vuke Intended audience: Senior high school through college students and adults DVD copy available… Internet Archive Some Seashore Animals 1930 · Educational · 9 min Also known as "Seashore Animals". Shows an anemone and its relative the sea feather, feather dusters (marine tube worms), and sea urchins. Close-ups of… Internet Archive Toute La Bande, Episode 9: Bricolage 1970 · Educational · 15 min A French language teaching film. Presents a dramatization in which a boy and a girl tour a French workshop after their washing machine breaks down. Internet Archive A Is for Atom 1953 · Film Science film positioning atomic energy as both a peaceful and a warlike force. Sponsored by a corporation involved in the nascent nuclear industry, the film… Internet Archive Safety with Animals 1961 · Short · 13 min Shows how to approach and handle animals, both wild and domestic, with an emphasis on dogs and horses. Surveys the general field of safety around animals… Internet Archive Castle 1985 · Educational · 58 min From WorldCat: Presents as animated tale about a fictional thirteenth-century fortress and town built by King Edward I to subdue the rebellious Welsh.… Internet Archive The Triune Brain 1984 · Educational Credits : Narrator, Michael Whalen ; Camera, Laval Fortier, Andre Lac Dupont, Phillipe Lavalette ; Editor, Gerald Vansier This film illustrates American… Internet Archive The Writer in America: John Gardner 1975 · Educational · 29 min · Subtitles "Art gropes. It stalks like a hunter lost in the woods, listening to itself and to everything around it, unsure of itself, waiting to pounce." In his novels,… Internet Archive Frames Of Reference 1960 · Film We digitized and uploaded this film from our archive of over 24,000 films. Email us at footage@avgeeks.com if you have questions about the footage and are… Internet Archive Einstein 1979 · Educational · 58 min Portrait of Albert Einstein moves from his early years as a brilliant intellectual, through two world wars, to a lonely voice preaching nuclear disarmament in… Internet Archive Discovering harmony in art 1966 · Educational · 16 min · Subtitles With study guide Discusses the harmony in nature and in the creative works of man and explains how harmony may be achieved in art by limiting, repeating, and… Internet Archive Operation Hardtack-1 - Nutmeg 51538 2017 · Film Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnrLY-phipw Uploader: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Upload date: 2017-03-13 Internet Archive Christmas Cracker 1964 · Cartoon Tall tale connected with the Christmas season. Begins with 2 animated figures made of squares and triangles dancing to "Jingle Bells." The main part of the… Internet Archive The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai 1969 · Educational · 23 min Makoto Yanagisawa (samurai), Nobuhide Horii (swordsmith), Tanetsugu Horii (swordsmith), Yasuhide Watanabe (swordsmith), George Takei (narrator) Internet Archive The Ascent of Man: 1 -- Lower Than the Angels 1974 · Educational · 52 min Producer and director, Adrian Malone; writer and narrator, Jacob Bronowski Explores the anatomical and intellectual changes giving rise to man's superiority… Internet Archive Army ants, a study in social behavior. 1968 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles Chief scientific adviser, Ralph Buchsbaum; collaborator, T. C. Schneirla Documents the complex organization and social behavior of two species of army ants… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Drugs, Injuries & Dangers To Little Children" 1985 · 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 German Newsreel: U-Boats 1942 · Newsreel · 7 min This German propaganda movie was part of a U.S. Navy archive compiled during WWII, and acquired by Periscope Film. In this film, the Battle of The Atlantic is… Internet Archive Tango 1981 · Educational Academy Award winning short subject, A child enters a room to get back his ball. Slowly, the entire space becomes filled with bizarre characters, all of them… Internet Archive Great Railway Journeys of The World:Three Miles High 1981 · Educational · 32 min · Subtitles Reporter Miles Kington travels from Cuzco, Peru, on the highest railway in the world, across the Andes Mountains, to La Paz, Bolivia. He observes South… Internet Archive DOPE 082 1988 · Film · Subtitles "The Boom they couldn't bust" 2-hr dope special Ch. 4 (21 July 1988), Russonello shouts down Oakland Trib publisher for saying 2 sentences about legalization.… Internet Archive Vocomotion Mersey Beat:Volume 4 1990 · Film · Subtitles "Four Star Classic Series Mersey Beat: 'Yellow Submarine', 'All My Love', 'Michelle', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'And I Love Her', 'Do You Want to Know… Internet Archive Artists: Frank Stella and Larry Poons 1990 · Educational · 29 min Artists: Frank Stella and Larry Poons An introduction to the abstract expressionism of Jack Tworkov. Includes his thoughts about his work, along with a… Internet Archive Individual Motivation and Behavior 1963 · Educational · 29 min Explores with individuals of a demonstration group the basis for their own actions within the group. Deals with psychological, perceptual, and family problems… Internet Archive I do -- and I understand: mathematics 1967 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles Children of nine and ten accomplish work formerly done by children of thirteen and fourteen at a school in Blackpool, England. New method of teaching provides… Internet Archive DOPE 096 1989 · Film · Subtitles Deukmejian "drug education" "ust Say No," Hollywood drugs & alcohol, Michael Jackson anti-drug video(!),Finish Line steroids, JFK on space, traveling… Internet Archive DOPE 133 1989 · Film · Subtitles Miles Davis addiction, big speed bust, Bay Bridge re-opens, Pine ridge alcohol, Sears soothing syrup See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive U.S. Navy Expedition to Antarctica 1946-47 "The Secret Land" documentary 24972 Documentary The Secret Land is a 1948 American documentary film about an American expedition code-named "Operation High Jump" to explore Antarctica. It won the Academy… Internet Archive DOPE 369 2003 · Film · Subtitles Space shuttle explodes, Ed Rosenthal's jury See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive From Pot to Psychedelics 1968 · Film Presents an overview of the social, legal and moral aspects of drug use and abuse in the United States. Includes interviews with drug users, legal… Internet Archive White Mane 1953 · Educational Director and author of original scenario, Albert Lamorisse; adaptation, Denys Colomb de Daunant ; commentary, Albert Lamorisse, James Agee ; narrator, Frank…