Ephemeral films

1,873–1,920 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 Fashion For Young Go-Getters 1964 · Film Dartmouth college boys review contemporary fashions made out of polyester and other synthetic materials. It's insulting alright.. We digitized and uploaded… Internet Archive Food That Builds Good Health 1951 · Film Shows how eating the right amounts of the right foods is related to good health. Illustrates how poor, unbalanced diets may cause irritability, lack of… Internet Archive DOPE 281 1998 · Film · Subtitles Reuter on Drug War, Dennis Miller, Olympics Pot Test, No Fed $ Needle Exchange, Viagra, Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Cannabis Club stays open Reuter on Drug War,… Internet Archive Identifying speech disorders. 1972 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles Produced by M.S. Berman and E.A. Leach Unusual voice properties may be produced by a misuse of vocal cords or an abnormality of a related physical structures.… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Shifting Into High (Transmission-1)" 1949 · 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 Voyager 2 Saturn Encounter 1981 · Film Selected portions of August 1981 press conferences of the Voyager 2 mission around Saturn on its way to Uranus. Describes Voyager 2 discoveries about Saturn.… Internet Archive Party's Over Short · 14 min Introduces problems of alcohol and peer pressure. Depicts a girl's quiet slumber party, which becomes raucous when a group of high school boys arrive with… Internet Archive Keep In Time - Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl 2000 · Film Tokion Magazine/Knee High Media present A Mochilla Film KEEPINTIME : Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl featuring: Roy Porter - played drums on "A Night in… Internet Archive Evolution 1971 · Educational Uses animation to show the evolution of animals, from one-celled, water organisms, to complex human beings Internet Archive Art And Architecture During The Depression October 4 2017 2017 · Film The Maritime Museum at Aquatic Park recently underwent extensive renovation, bringing to public view murals and sculptures from the WPA that have long been… Internet Archive Apollo 9 : three to make ready. 1969 · Film Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module (CSM) along with the Lunar Module (LM). Astronauts James A. McDivitt,David R. Scott, and… Internet Archive One World or None 1946 · Film Warning about the threat of nuclear war. Sponsored by atomic scientists, One World or None uses animation to explain the development of atomic energy and the… Internet Archive Piaget on Piaget: The Epistemology of Jean Piaget 1977 · Educational Producer, Philip Garvin The work of child psychologist Jean Piaget has been influential in the areas of child development and education. In this film made… Internet Archive World of '68 1969 · Newsreel · 4 min Originally shown on the Smothers brothers comedy hour television program Camera, Sylvia Dees; editor, Ken Rudolph A kinestasis film. Uses kaleidoscopic… Internet Archive Popular Front To Cold War December 6 2017 2017 · Film In November 1938, California elected its first-ever liberal Democratic governor Culbert Olson, supported by a state-wide Popular Front coalition of liberals,… Internet Archive The Lottery (And Discussion) 1969 · Educational · 28 min Based on Shirley Jackson's most famous short story, this film shows the people in a typical small American town involved in an event that will provoke serious… Internet Archive DOPE 287 1998 · Film · Subtitles Clinton's Speech, Monica Lewinsky See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Alphabet Zoo Educational "Children love animals, so what better way for them to learn the alphabet than to visit the Alphabet Zoo? Through upbeat interactive songs, children will… Internet Archive Dust or destiny : a sermon from science 1949 · Film Earth's natural wonders give testimony to the creative work of a majestic God. This film can be purchased on DVD and higher quality versions of the film can… Internet Archive Las Madres: The Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo 1985 · Educational In Spanish with English subtitles Directors, Susana Muñoz, Lourdes Portillo Documents the protests of the mothers of 30,000 young people who were… Internet Archive Search for the Great Apes: Part 2 -- Gorillas 1975 · Educational · 26 min Produced by the National Geographic Society Shows the techniques used by Dian Fossey to habituate mountain gorillas during her long-term behavioral research… Internet Archive Summerhill 1967 · Educational Producer, Cecily Burwash; director and photographer, Denis Miller; editor, Kathleen Burwash Visits England's progressive school, Summerhill, founded by… Internet Archive Pygmies of the Rain Forest 1975 · Educational · 28 min With teacher's guide Also issued as videocassette Portrays the life of the nomadic Mbuti pygmies of Zaire, Africa. Shows their primal world of hut building,… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Making Marriage Last" 1960 · 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 Aging: The Methuselah Syndrome 1982 · Educational · 56 min Aging: The Methuselah Syndrome Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Explains that the diverse colonies in… Internet Archive Zea 1981 · Educational "A superb visual trick that will mystify its audience, this animated film transforms the commonplace into magic." Dramatic cinemacrography zeros in on a… Internet Archive The Village 1969 · Educational · 46 min Producer, Colin Young; directors, Walter Goldschmidt, Colin Young; photographer, Mark McCarty Takes a look at life in the village of Dunquin in County Kerry,… Internet Archive Adventures in Telezonia 1949 · Film One of the Bell Telephone System’s many films instructing the public on proper use of the telephone. Bobby finds his lost dog with the help of the residents… Internet Archive The General 1927 · Educational · 24 min The General Follows the lives of workers, many of them women, in the garment and electronics industries in special export processing zones in Mexico and the… Internet Archive DOPE 468 2005 · Film · Subtitles Bush smoked pot, Oscars - Hilary Swank, Jamie Foxx. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive A Better Ohio 1937 1937 · Film On Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in Ohio. Shows airports at Cleveland and Dayton under construction, remodeled orphanage buildings in Defiance,… Internet Archive Be In ALF And Invisible Circus 2017 · Film Kent Minault, an original Digger from San Francisco in the 1960s, describes the events at the beginning of 1967, starting with the Diggers' effort to critique… Internet Archive DOPE 304 1999 · Film · Subtitles Peter Tosh, Mayoral Debates, Dawn Passar, Seattle Riots, Finochio's, High School Teens, See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive The First SALT talks. 1978 · Educational · 25 min · Subtitles A chronicle of events between the end of World War I and Pearl Harbor, the film depicts the world's first major disarmament conference to limit the post-war… Internet Archive Way Out West 1989 · Cartoon ..."a rib tickling all color look at how the West was wonderful...The Mild West, The Lone Star State, Molly Moo-Coo and the Indians, Gold Rush Daze" Internet Archive The two rivers. [motion picture] 1985 · Educational · 1 h Directed by Mark Newman and produced by Edwin Wes Using the example of the Venda people, this program shows how the arrival of the Europeans irrevocably… Internet Archive Dance Squared 1963 · Educational Running time: 03:21 French version released under the title Ronde carrée Presents the geometry of the square and its related parts. Shows geometric shapes… Internet Archive History of Space Travel, Episode 13: The Mission of Apollo-Soyuz Film Episode 13 of the History of Space Travel series tells the story of the Apollo/Soyuz mission. The video stresses the spirit of cooperation and friendship that… Internet Archive Hotel Del Monte 1897 · Film This early sponsored film by Southern Pacific Railroad offers views of tourists at the opulent resort in Monterey, California. Note: Among the other early… Internet Archive How To Raise A Street Smart Child 1987 · Film "Daniel J. Travanti, the Emmy-winning star of 'Hill Street Blues', hosts the critically important program that no parent can afford to be without. Based on… Internet Archive The Shock of the New: Threshold of Liberty, Part 1 1980 · Educational · 28 min VHS Narrated and written by art critic Robert Hughes. Produced by the BBC and Time-Life Television Discusses surrealism, the last revolutionary art movement… Internet Archive The Yellow Wallpaper 1977 · Educational Based on the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which was written in 1890 Producers, Marie Ashton, Este Gardner ; Director, Marie Ashton Sigurd… Internet Archive Debrief Apollo 8 1969 · Film This film illustrates the story of mankind’s first orbit around the Moon as told with commentary on the significance of the Apollo 8 flight by several… Internet Archive The Management of Human Assets 1968 · Educational · 22 min Dr Rensis Likert, director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, summarizes the years of research and activity he has directed… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Nutrition Basics" 1980 · 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 484 2006 · Film · Subtitles Pot candy bust, new Dr. Who series, Terralita's house. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Sculpt! Circuit 3-4 2000 · Film "Circuit 3-4 includes a new sectional progression circuit to accelerate body toning/shaping" -- description from box. Internet Archive Nobody Ever Died of Old Age (1975) 1975 · Educational · 1 h 8 min Uses both serious and humorous character studies to show what it is like to grow old in the United States in the 1970s. Dramatizes the lives of a number of…