Ephemeral films

1,633–1,680 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 Lone Mountain Cemeteries W Woody La Bounty Oct 28 2023 2023 · Film San Francisco history guy Woody LaBounty leads a tour of the land once occupied by four big San Francisco cemeteries around Lone Mountain. Now the site of… Internet Archive Monet. 1970 · Educational · 16 min · Subtitles Recommended for junior high through college and other adult groups Images, Jean Serge Bourgain, Équipe Arcady; montage, Bella Brodsky; musique, Maurice… Internet Archive Report on Down's syndrome. 1964 · Educational · 19 min · Subtitles Review of Down's syndrome includes general characteristics and findings in the area of genetics at the time the film was made. Covers first diagnosis and the… Internet Archive Strange Creatures of the Night 1973 · Educational · 50 min Also issued as videocassette Shorter version (25 min.) issued under title: The world of darkness Uses night-vision camera devices in presenting detailed… Internet Archive Fun Or Dumb? Graffiti Short · 13 min Using kids' own arguments (both pros and cons), film presents overwhelming evidence that vandalism is dumb. Shows that graffiti-type vandalism costs over… Internet Archive The Beginning of Life (1969) 1969 · Educational · 28 min Documents the stages in the growth of the human embryo inside the womb. Surveys the history of the Black American's participation in the armed forces of the… Internet Archive DOPE 273 1997 · Film · Subtitles Deneuve smoke Opium, A&E Prohibition, Elvis meets Nixon, Princess Diana dead, Mother Teresa, HBO "Flashback", PEP Study, Science Fiction. See scans of liner… Internet Archive Take Problems to Church (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Take Problems to Church (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :28 Sound: Yes Black and White Description: Simple black and… Internet Archive Electrons 1937 · Educational · 10 min Through animated drawings and photography explains the hypothesis that electricity consists of unit elementary charges. Demonstrates the conduction of… Internet Archive Zulu country dances. 1968 · Educational · 14 min Shows rural life and crafts in African village: mock battle dance by men, women singing and playing musical bow, both sexes dancing together, bridal dance,… Internet Archive High Lonesome Sound 1963 · Educational · 30 min CREDITS: Photography, John Cohen; editor, Patricia Jaffee SUMMARY: Presents folk music and spirituals sung by the mountain people of eastern Kentucky: an… Internet Archive DOPE 493 2006 · Film · Subtitles Bonds HR #717 + 718, Zarqawi killed, Dellums wms oak, Fentanyl Heroin. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Girl shy. [motion picture] 1924 · Educational · 38 min "A Pathé picture." Subtitles with background music on sound track Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels, Carlton Griffin Original production:… Internet Archive Snack Bar Art Deco Animation (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Snack Bar Art Deco Animation (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :36 Sound: Yes Color Description: Simple animated text… Internet Archive Zero de Conduite 1933 · Educational Originally released under the title Zero de conduite With French dialogue and English subtitles Director and writer, Jean Vigo; music, Maurice Jaubert;… Internet Archive Dem Dry Bones 1966 · Educational · 24 min Considers the importance of bones in telling the history of the earth through fossil remains. Shows the site of an excavation to demonstrate how the… Internet Archive Black Music in America: The '70s 1979 · Educational · 32 min VHS Associate producer, Naimah Fuller; writer, Orde Coombs; narrators, Isaac Hayes, Dionne Warwick; consultant, Charles Hobson; editor, Debi Moore… Internet Archive The Italian Ethiopian War [motion picture] : Africa in world affairs 1978 · Educational · 25 min The short-lived, but brutal, Italian-Ethiopian War leads into an examination of Italian fascism, the character of Mussolini and how he came to power. This… Internet Archive Drive-in Intermission 8 Short · 10 min Popcorn and candy at the snack bar. Complete intermission film. Suggestion: insert clip between two movies when making double feature dvd. Internet Archive Food Getting Among Animals 1956 · Short · 12 min Shows how different animals acquire food. And like other Moody Institute of Science films, there is a religious message. To license this film and get a higher… Internet Archive The Five Forty-Eight 1979 · Educational · 59 min Title from data sheet Laurence Luckinbill, Mary Beth Hurt Intended audience: Senior high school through college and adult Issued also as videorecording A… Internet Archive The Nation at Your Fingertips 1951 · Film Promotional film introducing self-service long-distance dialing. Showing the prototype service in Englewood, New Jersey, The Nation at Your Fingertips… Internet Archive The Emerging Woman 1974 · Educational Director, Helena Solberg-Ladd; script and research, Roberta Haber, Melanie Maholick; narrator, Leslie Cass; editor, Jane Stubbs Uses original photographs,… Internet Archive DOPE 125 1989 · Film · Subtitles NYC crack, SF opium laws, history drug policy, Colombia Bush war, Ben Johnson drugs, Nancy say no, Crossfire Trebach & Newt, McNeil-Lehrer, Bush drug speech… Internet Archive Ski School 1963 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles Offers instruction in fundamental ski techniques, including climbing, descending, and turning. Blue Ribbon winner, American Film Festival Internet Archive The Babysitters 1984 · Educational Title from data sheet Intended audience: Intermediate grades through junior high school Issued also as videorecording Presents a dramatization of a young… Internet Archive The Planets 1975 · Educational · 51 min For the first time, man is able to see in sharp detail the surfaces of the Moon, Mercury, and Mars. By reading into their surfaces the history of how the… Internet Archive Unconscious Motivation 1949 · Educational · 38 min audience SummaryExplains how unconscious motives influence everyday actions. Shows psychological techniques for detecting repressed ideas and illustrates the… Internet Archive An Army Camp: Nanking 1976 · Educational · 26 min · Subtitles Note: Purchased under a grant from the Sidney Myer Charity Trust This is one of a 12 part series filmed with official approval in direct-cinema mode during… Internet Archive Die Tiere in der Stadt 1960 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles Based on the Eine Knoop-Film production entitled Der Mensch und seine Tiere Consultant, W. Gregor Heggen A German language teaching film for beginning… Internet Archive The Mind Machines 1978 · Educational · 56 min Title from data sheet Also issued as videorecording Describes a branch of computer science known as artificial intelligence and explores how it will be used… Internet Archive DOPE 457 2004 · Film · Subtitles Elvis drugs, pot clubs, gay marriage, Reefer Madness Bush on pot, Miles Davis, steroids, Angel Raich, Yankton. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Sailors and Sirens 1937 · Short · 3 min An amusing short film, made prior to WWII, that shows a group of Hawaiian maidens performing the traditional hula dance aboard a U.S. Navy battleship. Internet Archive Red China 1962 · Educational Televised on NBC in the White paper series Narrator, Chet Huntley Traces the rise of Mao Tse-tung and the Communists during the Civil War against Chiang… Internet Archive Reptiles and Amphibians 1969 · Educational · 24 min Explores the world of reptiles and amphibians, and compares their prehistoric existence with their existence today as lower life forms. With teacher's guide. Internet Archive Masque of the Red Death (Maska crvene smrti) 1969 · Educational An animated version of Edgar Allan Poe's short story. It tells of Prince Prospero who, determined to keep the plague that is ravaging the countryside away,… Internet Archive Ski School. 1963 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles Offers instruction in fundamental ski techniques, focusing on slalom running. Blue Ribbon winner, American Film Festival Summary Gives instruction in ski… Internet Archive Left Brain, Right Brain 1979 · Educational · 52 min Title from data sheet Intended audience: Ages 16 through adult Issued also as videorecording Presents and demonstrates theories about the development of… Internet Archive Piaget's developmental theory: Classification 1968 · Educational · 16 min Authors, Robert Karplus, Cella Stendler Lavatelli Illustrates the developmental theory of Jean Piaget using a study of the intellectual development of… Internet Archive People of the River Neretva 1966 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles Intended audience: Senior high school through adult Documents the "amphibious" way of life of the people who live on the delta of the Neretva, a small… Internet Archive Conformity 1970 · Educational · 8 min An animated film that shows that people tend to live their lives in patterns. Satirizes the loss of identity which man experiences in his daily routine. Internet Archive Linda's Film on Menstruation 1974 · Educational Director, writer, and editor, Linda Feferman The story of a fifteen-year-old girl who experiences her menstrual period, describing the reaction of the girl… Internet Archive Salute to the Navy 2024 1943 · Short · 9 min U.S. propaganda newsreel from World War II (WWII) featuring amazing footage of the air sea battles that raged near the Marshall Islands. Featured ships are:… Internet Archive Jay Rosenblatt Filmmaker 2015 · Film Jay Rosenblatt is an internationally recognized artist who has been working as an independent filmmaker since 1980 and has completed over twenty-five films.… Internet Archive DOPE 025 1987 · Film · Subtitles Reagan "Memo to Future," Just Say NO, OUie North, PCP-LA, Long Days Journey into Night, Summer of Love, Age of Kennedy, Cocaine Islands See scans of liner… Internet Archive Who's Right? 1954 · Film Marriage for Moderns series Irving Jacoby; Richard Leacock; Judson Gooding; Henry Adelbert Bowman; Dramatizes the experiences of a young married couple whose… Internet Archive Not Your Usual " Black History" Special 1999 · Film · Subtitles "An interesting and entertaining look at some "not so usual" people and events in history...interwoven with little known facts about African American… Internet Archive Du Hua Shu Shi Ding Zhi Lu 7 (Selections) - Children's Circle Mandarin Compilations 1997 · Film Two animated classic picture books, narrated in Mandarin. Charlie Needs a Cloak - Tomie DePaola The Mysterious Tadpole - Steven Kellogg