Ephemeral films

1,969–2,016 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 On With the Show - Clowns (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: On With the Show Clowns (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :08 Sound: Yes Color Description: A short simple color animation… Internet Archive Billion-Dollar Bubble 1976 · Educational · 29 min Title from data sheet Also issued as videorecording Presents the story of the 2-million-dollar insurance embezzlement scheme involving Equity Funding… Internet Archive Weather Systems in Motion 1986 · Educational · 14 min Explains how great mid-latitude weather systems get started and how their movements account for alternating storms and fair weather. This film isn't in the… Internet Archive Kick Me 1975 · Cartoon Producer and director, Robert Swarthe Drawings made directly on film stock tell a humorous tale of conflict between a pair of legs, a baseball, and a family… Internet Archive DOPE 372 2003 · Film · Subtitles SFPD Indictments, GHB, Ephedra, war protests See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Diggerly Dos Featuring Kent Minault June 7 2017 2017 · Film Video of: Kent Minault tells of the explosive first six months of the San Francisco Diggers. Featuring stories of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Tim Leary,… Internet Archive Movement in Time and Space 1968 · Educational · 29 min Discusses how children's exploration of their environment contributes to their mental and physical development. Explains how the teacher provides resources… Internet Archive Intermission 2a (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Intermission 2 (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :35 Sound: Yes Color Description: Mix of animation, stop frame, narration… Internet Archive Computer Glossary 1973 · Educational With teacher's guide Authors, Charles Eames, Ray Eames, Glen Fleck; music, Elmer Bernstein Defines the challenge of computer programming that emerges from… Internet Archive Soft as a Cloud 1955 · Short · 23 min So you've spent all this money on the latest appliances, but you still aren't happy. Perhaps it is because your water is "old fashioned". This film sells the… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "The Fairy Ring" 1955 · 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 Atomic Energy Can Be A Blessing 1952 · Film Father James Keller and actor Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity, Absent-Minded Professor) point out how atomic energy can be a God-given blessing instead of a… Internet Archive Lunar Samples Of Apollo 11 and 12 1972 · Film Presents the results of the preliminary investigation of the lunar samples. Includes biological and chemical studies and the distribution of the lunar… Internet Archive Drive-in: Happy Father's Day Film about 20 seconds. suggestion; insert clip before comin attraction clips when creating drive-in dvd. Internet Archive DOPE 286 1998 · Film · Subtitles Reuter on Drug War, Dennis Miller, Olympics Pot Test, No Fed $ Needle Exchange, Viagra, Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Cannabis Club stays open See scans of liner… Internet Archive A Study of Negro Artists 1935 · Film Review of the artistic achievements of African Americans. Among the artists profiled are Aaron Douglas, Richmond Barthe, James Allen, and Georgette Seabrook.… Internet Archive Computer Perspective 1972 · Educational Produced by Charles and Ray Eames A collection of artifacts, ideas, events, and memorabilia belonging to the six decades that led up to 1950 and the… Internet Archive Third And 20th Streets 1944 From Lost Landscapes No 1 1944 · Film A WWII-era view of the corner of 20th and 3rd Streets, near the Bethlehem shipyards during the peak of wartime production. A close look at the working class… Internet Archive Dope 138 1989 · Film · Subtitles Delancey Street...Columbian Drug War...Miles Davis-Coltrane, music vids...Noriega...See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Acting is the art. 1970 · Educational · 22 min · Subtitles Urban Gateways Drama Workshop, a Chicago Model Cities Leisure Time Project involving black children from the fourth and fifth grades, is designed to give… Internet Archive Fears of Children 1951 · Film Subtle case study produced for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals on the importance of constructive parenting in overcoming childhood fears.… Internet Archive Wife Beating 1976 · Educational · 27 min Wife Beating Shows the historical research and archeological and architectural studies necessary for the authentic restoration and reconstruction of… Internet Archive The End of One 1970 · Educational As the sun rises in an orange-hued sky filled with birds in flight above a coastline, the camera watches seagulls soar, swoop and scavange for food from a… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Joe Learns to Keep His Body Clean" 1986 · 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 Gregory Peck: His Own Man 1988 · Educational Richard Kiley Through interviews and film highlights, this documentary traces the life and career of the movie star from his Academy-Award-winning role in To… Internet Archive DOPE 298 1998 · Film · Subtitles Impeach Clinton, Jazz Photos, Dawn Passar, Drug Czar. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Hansel and Gretel: An Appalachian Version 1975 · Educational Producer and director, Tom Davenport; assistant filmmakers, Catherine Hartz, Mimi Davenport; original music and sound effects, Michael Lawrence Scott… Internet Archive Leisure Time: U.S.S.R. 1968 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles A Julien Bryan production The working Russian has only in recent years had time for leisure activities. Now, as shown in this film, Russians enjoy sports and… Internet Archive Vietnam: An Historical Document 1975 · Educational Uses television videotape news reports to trace the history of American involvement in Vietnam from the early 1950's to the fall of South Vietnam in 1973.… Internet Archive Street Jam with Barry Joyce 1991 · Film "Dance To The Heat Of The Street with Barry Joyce. A U.S. National Aerobic Champion who has traveled internationally demonstrating his unique style in… Internet Archive Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston 1982 · Educational · 33 min Traces the alteration, through economic and political influences, of the Parker Hill area of Roxbury in Boston. An ethnically mixed family neighborhood, at… Internet Archive A Greek Tragedy 1985 · Cartoon Academy Award winner for best animated short film, 1987 Producers, Linda Van Tulden, Willem Thijssen Having dutifully held up the remains of an ancient… Internet Archive The Flight of the Snow Geese 1973 · Educational · 25 min Follows the migration of the snow geese from their birth in the Arctic area of Hudson Bay, where they grow and prepare for the 2,500-mile flight, to the… Internet Archive Discovery 1974 · Educational · 27 min A film about science which relates understanding nature to curiosity, creativity, and communication. Internet Archive Reinforcement control of a young child's behavior. 1968 · Educational · 15 min · Subtitles Paul Weisberg of the University of Alabama shows how a sixteen-month-old child is trained to press a lever for snacks under the influence of several schedules… Internet Archive Yoshi No Yama 1951 · Educational · 16 min · Subtitles A classical Japanese dance in which a single performer, with the aid of the "figure in black" on stage, tells the entire story. Shows the application of… Internet Archive DOPE 258 1996 · Film · Subtitles Willie Brown, Pat Norman, Tim Leary dies, SF Buyers Club, Andrew Weil, Democratic Convention, Prop 215, CIA-cocaine. See scans of liner notes for detailed… Internet Archive Spunky the Snowman 1968 · Educational Produced by Saul J. Turell; script, Israel M. Berman Level: P, E A story cartoon depicting Spunky the Snowman's visit to Santa Internet Archive The Hidden Way 1926 · Film Feature-length drama, written by Ida May Park, in which convicts befriend a poor family and struggle to go straight. Preserved in collaboration with the New… Internet Archive Seashore Life 1950 · Film Portrays life on three kinds of seashores--the sandy beach, the rock pool and the mud flat. Shows the adaptations seashore animals make to their special… Internet Archive Texas: Southside 1989 · Film "All the hit singles from the million selling debut album Southside and two bonus live tracks, filmed at Wembley Stadium". Internet Archive That NASA Show, Episode 2: Space Wear 2001 · Film If you were suddenly called into service in space, what would you wear? Would you be able to go into your closet and pull out the “right stuff?” Do you know… Internet Archive Nazi Germany: Years of Triumph 1971 · Educational · 29 min With teacher's guide Based on the book The rise and fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer Traces the expansion of Naxi Germany from Hitler's… Internet Archive Caribbean Close-UP:Dominican Republic, Haiti Film · Subtitles " Children of Earth Series....Caribbean Close-Up...Haiti & Dominican Republic....This Video will show U.S.children the ways young people live in other parts… Internet Archive Incident at Brown's Ferry 1977 · Educational · 58 min Also issued as videocassette Focuses on the details surrounding a 1975 fire at the world's largest nuclear power plant in Brown's Ferry, Ala. Considers the… Internet Archive What Is Money? 1947 · Film Following journey of five dollar bill thru many transactions, film shows how money functions as standard of value, standard for future payment, storehouse of… Internet Archive Learning About Human Behavior 1971 · Educational · 11 min Shows different approaches to the study of human behavior as scientists describe current studies in physical development, perception, learning, emotions,… Internet Archive Summer of the Loucheux: Portrait of a Northern Indian Family 1983 · Educational · 28 min Intended audience: Ages 15 through adult Cinematographer, Black James ; sound recordist, Lorna Rasmussen ; music, Mo Marshall ; editors, Paragayo R. Reece,…