Ephemeral films

1,441–1,488 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 Telegraph Hil from Bay 1995 · Film shot from a canoe off Pier 33 looking up at Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill. Internet Archive The Writer in America: Janet Flanner 1975 · Educational · 29 min · Subtitles Producer, director, Richard O. Moore; photographer, editor, Philip Greene In 1925 Flanner sent her first "Letter from Paris" to Harold Ross, the editor of a… Internet Archive Fish Family, A 1957 · Short · 9 min The complete reproduction cycle of the blue acara fish is pictured. Included are the processes of preparing the nest, egg laying, fertilization, care during… Internet Archive Animal Homes 1955 · Film Shows that while most wild animals live in the woods and fields, different animals choose different places to build their homes. We see a squirrel's home in a… Internet Archive Project Apollo - Manned Flight To The Moon 1963 · Film Animated. Shows the principal steps taken by NASA to place men on the moon and get them back safely within this decade. Internet Archive Dope 143 1990 · Film · Subtitles Mexico Drugs, Toadlicking, Colombia Drugs Undiminished, MC Hammer, Cartagena Drug Summit, $9-1/2 B. Barry Indicted, Drug Treaty See scans of liner notes for… Internet Archive 17th Folsom 2 2011 · Film Oscar Grande, organizer with PODER in the Mission, talks about the promises and perils of the organizing effort to create In Chan Kajaal park at 17th and… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "The Berenstain Bears in The Bike Lesson" 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 Haunted Mouth, The Short · 13 min In a haunted house, the invisible spirit of plaque (voiced by Cesar Romero) - which evidently has the ability to possess rocking chairs - warns children… Internet Archive Coal Miner, The 1979 · Film This film explains and explores the advanced technology in today's coal industry through interviews with men and women who work in the mines and are proud of… Internet Archive Carnivorous Plants 1955 · Film Photomicrography reveals the unusual structure and behavior of the Venus's flytrap, the trumpet plant, the cobra plant, the common pitcher plant, the sundew… Internet Archive Paul's Case 1980 · Educational · 54 min Title from data sheet Also issued as videorecording Eric Roberts, Michael Higgins Executive producer, Robert Geller; director, Lamont Jackson Based on the… Internet Archive Transport systems in animals. 1971 · Educational · 16 min · Subtitles Writer, George Vuke; consultant, Harper Follansbee; photographers, Tom Held, George Vuke Examines the streaming of cytoplasm in single celled animals,… Internet Archive Insomnie (Insomnia) 1963 · Educational Lydia Binaghi, Laurence Gallimard, Gabriel Blonde, [Pierre Etaix] Photography, Jean Boffety, Pierre Levent ; editor, Andrée Werlin ; music, Jean Paillaud… Internet Archive Social Class in America 1957 · Educational · 15 min Social Class in America SummaryShows the difference social class makes in the lives of three high school boys. Explains how one boy is able to raise his… Internet Archive Case for Beer, A Short · 10 min A cautionary film for convenience store owners about underage alcohol sales. To license this film and get a higher quality version for broadcast/film… Internet Archive Richard Simmons Blast Off! 1999 · Film · Subtitles "Your 20-minute energizing workout video" -- description from box. Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Electricity, Heating, And Plumbing" 1981 · 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 DOPE 458 2004 · Film · Subtitles Elvis drugs, pot clubs, gay marriage, Reefer Madness Bush on pot, Miles Davis, steroids, Angel Raich, Aids, Michael Moore, Bush on MJ. See scans of liner… Internet Archive The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Whales 1968 · Educational CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STUDY GUIDE FOR THIS FILM During the past sixty millions years, the whale evolved from a seagoing animal to a land animal. More… Internet Archive DOPE 224 1993 · Film · Subtitles Needle Exchange, Pot Legalize, 60 mins heroin, DEA series, Tim Leary interview, Billie Holiday, Joe McNamara, Karen Norman, Craig Noble pot film See scans of… Internet Archive Mob And Riot Control 1964 · Film A law enforcement training film concerned with the control of civil disturbances. Covers the use of modern equipment, including the baton, smoke, and tear… Internet Archive Fireman, The 1954 · Film Shows how firemen work, describes their equipment in action. Care of equipment, drills, testing of trucks, hose, ladders, and life saving devices are… Internet Archive Electrical Circuits in Space: The Electrodynamics of the Tethered Satellite 1996 · Film Demonstrates how the tethered satellite and the Space Shuttle orbiter interact with Earth's magnetic field to produce an electric current. Future applications… Internet Archive Diagnosis of Childhood Schizophrenia 1974 · Educational · 35 min Diagnosis of Childhood Schizophrenia SummaryTraces the step - by - step procedure of screening clinical data in order to establish the diagnosis of childhood… Internet Archive The House in the Middle 1954 · Film Civil defense film promoting the well-maintained house as part of America’s line of defense against nuclear attack. Cosponsored by the paint and coating… Internet Archive Flight of Apollo 7, The 1968 · Film Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo Mission, was launched on October 11, 1968. This 14 minute video explains the goals of the mission and presents lots of… Internet Archive Col. Heeza Liar's "Forbidden Fruit" 1923 · Film Animated tall tale in which the colonel recounts how he single-handedly ended the “Great Banana Famine of 1923”. Preserved in collaboration with the New… Internet Archive Fur Coat Club 1973 · Film Two young girls with a passion for touching fur coats become locked inside a furrier's shop after hours when two burglars break in. Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Volume: Cubic Centimeters" 1974 · 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 Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite 1968 · Educational Director, Kevin Brownlow ; narrator Lindsay Anderson Abel Gance is presented as a great innovator of the cinema. The film uses footage from Gance's Napoleon,… Internet Archive Monkey Into Man 1938 · Educational · 17 min Monkey Into Man Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film SummaryAttempts to prove the hypothesis that monkeys'… Internet Archive The United States Of Poetry: A Day In the Life 1996 · Film "POETRY LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE. Forget talking heads, lectures, and recitations. There's a new breed of poets loose in the land, reclaiming poetry… Internet Archive Butcher, The Baker and The Ice Cream Maker, The Cartoon · 11 min And animated sales pitch for prepackaged ice cream cartons for grocers, druggists, etc. The story involves the butcher and baker looking for a third person to… Internet Archive DOPE 263 1996 · Film · Subtitles PROP 215 Wins!, Dennis busted, Valerie Corral, Firing Line, Hong Kong, Mars Landing, War on Drugs, Flower Therapy raided, J. Morgan. See scans of liner notes… Internet Archive Dance Sketches 1970 · Film Presents a series of dance sketches performed by the Kansas City, Missouri, Civic Ballet. Includes the scarf dance of the 1870's, the doll dance, basic folk… Internet Archive Pierre Bonnard: In Search Of Pure Color 1984 · Film "This program examines Bonnard's work through a close look at paintings gathered for a major retrospective at the Paris Centre Pompidou. There is also a… Internet Archive DOPE 214 1993 · Film · Subtitles Clinton Wins, Brownie Mary, Cocaine War on Bolivia, David Musto, 48 hrs-LSD, Clinton inaugural, Frontline Drug War Failed, Doping Horses See scans of liner… Internet Archive Free Climb: The Northwest Face of Half Dome 1978 · Educational Title from data sheet Narrator, Robert Redford Longer version (48 min.) also issued Intended audience: Ages 15 through adult Issued also as videorecording… Internet Archive The Wings of the Fleet 1925 · Short · 32 min A history of the early days of Naval aviation, Wings of the Fleet was made in the mid-1920s. Includes footage of the battleship USS Texas as it became the… Internet Archive DOPE 267 1997 · Film · Subtitles PROP 215 Wins!, Dennis busted, Valerie Corral, Firing Line, Hong Kong, Mars Landing, War on Drugs, Flower Therapy raided, J. Morgan. See scans of liner notes… Internet Archive Date For Dinner, A 1960 · Film Presents typical situations which occur on a dinner date--checking, seating, ordering, table technique, make-up repair, tipping and escort courtesy. Help us… Internet Archive DOPE 256 1996 · Film · Subtitles Willie Brown, Pat Norman, Tim Leary Dies, SF Buyers Club, Andrew Weil, Dem Convention, Prop 215, CIA-Cocaine. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Weather Modification 1965 · Educational · 29 min Weather Modification Discusses the psychosocial causes of alienation among young adults as a means of exploring individual and group attitudes about drugs and… Internet Archive Idle Wives 1916 · Film First two reels of a Lois Weber feature in which a film inspires three sets of moviegoers to remake their lives. Preserved in collaboration with the New… Internet Archive Newspaper Story (2nd Ed) 1973 · Educational · 26 min Documents the activities of newspaper staff members during a 24-hour period. Shows how news is gathered and how it is written, edited, and printed.… Internet Archive From These Roots 1974 · Educational Commentary, Brock Peters; music, Eubie Blake Uses still photographs and filmed sequences to recreate the social and political climate of the Harlem… Internet Archive Rosey Jencks On Sewerage 2018 · Film Rosey Jencks, 12-year veteran of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, specializing in water infrastructure, gives a basic overview of the history…