Ephemeral films

2,113–2,160 of 19,489 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 DOPE 213 1992 · 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 Banana I 1977 · Film Parodies educational film and television programs. Explains a new language by demonstrating how to conjugate the verb 'to banana.' This film can be purchased… Internet Archive Billy Ray Cyrus One On One 1994 · Film "...with his debut release, "Achy Breaky Heart"...set the world dancing: "In the heart of a woman", "Could Have Been Me", "Some Gave All", "Wher'm I Gonna… Internet Archive Meeting The Needs Of Adolescents 1955 · Film Depicts a family with a boy of 14 and a girl of 17. Shows how their physical and mental needs are met, how they are guided in their spiritual growth, and how… Internet Archive Steam Age - History Of Transportation--Part I 1958 · Film Describes the swift development of transportation in the United States from the time of the Indians to the coming of the automobile. Utilizes historical… Internet Archive Ghost in the Shed 1980 · Cartoon LINK TO THE BOOK THIS STORY IS TAKEN FROM Animated. This is a whimsical story of a polite, but persistent ghost. A modest Vermont peddler has been foully… 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 Ancient Egypt 1977 · Educational Traces Egypt's ancient past in North Africa's Nile Valley through the Pyramid Age and the Middle Kingdom to the empire's destruction by the Assyrians… Internet Archive Civilisation: 2 -- The Great Thaw 1969 · Educational -----Another issue. 35 mm Writer and narrator, Kenneth Clark Surveys the development of western civilization during the 12th century from restless curiosity… Internet Archive Thirty Years of Fun 1963 · Educational · 53 min Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Syd Chaplin A comprehensive survey of the most notable motion picture comedians from the earliest… Internet Archive Artists : Jack Tworkov 1967 · Educational · 28 min Artists : Jack Tworkov Shows artist Jim Dine at work and at home; includes footage of Dine discussing his life, his artistic development, and "what is called… Internet Archive DOPE 156 1990 · Film · Subtitles Barry Trial, Op Green Sweep in Mendo, Barry guilty, C.R.A.P. panel recommends legalizing it, FNN Kurt Schmoke(8-20-90). See scans of liner notes for detailed… Internet Archive Harry Hay: Labor, Human, and Gay Rights Advocate 1996 · Film Harry Hay was labor, human, and gay rights advocate in the 1930's through his death in 2002. He organized the Mattachine Society and the Radical Faeries , a… Internet Archive Patterns Of The Wild 1966 · Film Documentary about wildlife in the US National Forests. Good footage of nature and animals, though not quite contemporary-looking. A red fox appears… Internet Archive DOPE 476 2005 · Film · Subtitles Karl Rove gave CIA, O'Connor off Sup. Ct, Palmeiro Steroids. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Pomo Shaman 1964 · Educational Shows Essie Parrish, the spiritual head of the Kashia Indian community and the only southwestern Pomo Indian sucking doctor who still practices this ancient… Internet Archive Filmmaking Techniques: Acting 1973 · Educational · Subtitles Carl Betz hosts in showing the transition of a stage actor to a motion picture actor. Actors and actresses, including Helen Hayes, Vincent Price, Jim Backus,… Internet Archive Art in the Negro Schools 1940 · Film Educational film surveying the instruction of the fine and performing arts at leading African American institutions, including Calhoun, Dillard, Fisk,… Internet Archive Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi 1984 · Educational · 49 min Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi is a television documentary, first broadcast on CBS in 1983. It is a look behind-the-scenes of the creation of the… Internet Archive First men into space--solving the space survival problems 1962 · Film Uses newsreel shots, animation, and photographs in presenting the problem of survival for the first manned space rockets. Great animation. Low oxygen soldier… Internet Archive DOPE 467 2005 · Film · Subtitles Bush & pot, Christo's "The Gates." See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Mzima: Portrait of a Spring 1983 · Educational Title from data sheet Longer version (53 min.) issued in 1972 by McGraw-Hill A foreign film (England) Issued also as videorecording Shows how, in the… Internet Archive Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - Teacher and Activist 1999 · Film Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, daughter of a landless farmer and half-Indian mother. Her paternal grandfather, a white settler, farmer, and… Internet Archive Drive In Intermssion 10 Short · 11 min There's time before the next picture to get a snack. Complete intermission film. Suggestion: insert clip between two movies when making your double feature… Internet Archive The Philosophy of the Obvious 1969 · Educational · 25 min Dr. Frederick Perls discusses two dreams as an introduction to the use of dreams in Gestalt therapy. He examines two levels of existence, the inner world and… Internet Archive Behind Your Radio Dial 1947 · Film A comprehensive, behind-the-scenes tour of NBC’s radio, television, and sound recording studios at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Note: Distributed… Internet Archive Dodge Motor Cars 1917 · Film Two parts of an epic industrial film chronicling the manufacture of automobiles. Preserved in collaboration with the New Zealand Film Archive and the Academy… Internet Archive GALA Float Passes Through 1976 San Francisco Gay And Lesbian Freedom Parade 1976 · Film Raw footage of 1976 San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade on Polk Street. The Gay Latino Alliance (GALA) contingent passes through at a certain… Internet Archive Let There Be Light 1946 · Educational Shows the treatment of combat neuropsychiatric patients in an Army hospital. Demonstrates narcosynthesis, hypnosis, and psychiatric therapy for individuals… Internet Archive Drug Policy Foundation 1990 · Film · Subtitles AIDS and IVD Users, needle exchange, drug testing, military drug war, racism and drug arrests, addiction and treatment. See scans of liner notes for detailed… Internet Archive Drop - Out 1963 · Film Uses the case of a boy from Quincy, Illinois, who dropped out of school in the tenth grade to highlight the problem of school drop-outs. Includes interviews… Internet Archive Let's Have Fewer Colds 1950 · Film The film deals with the problems of colds -- their cause, treatment and control. The opening scene shows a group of school children on the playground enjoying… Internet Archive The Diver 1911 · Film Documentary showing how to set underwater explosives, preserved in collaboration with the New Zealand Film Archive and The Museum of Modern Art. Internet Archive Coming of Age 1982 · Educational · 1 h Coming of Age Documents a summer week when 180 young people of many different backgrounds gathered at a mountain camp with twenty-five counselors. They shared… Internet Archive Test Flights, Beyond the Limits, Episode 1: Flights Of Discovery 1999 · Film Episode 1 of this three-part series explores what drives NASA’s modern-day explorers to go beyond tragedy to find answers and to push the edge of flight where… Internet Archive Box, The 1973 · Film Presents a visual and sound experience about a young boy who enjoys playing with a large cardboard box. Explains that the boy imagines that the box becomes a… Internet Archive Serenal 1961 · Educational Norman McLaren salutes the West Indies by painting the spirit of fiesta, using a vibra-drill to etch abstract images on film which sway and change to the… Internet Archive 1943 BATTLE OF KURSK EASTERN FRONT WEHRMACHT VS. RED ARMY TANK BATTLE (in RUSSIAN) 76694 Film Made in 1945, this morale boosting Soviet documentary/propaganda movie is about the Battle of Kursk during WWII. It was produced by Eduard Bushkin, written by… Internet Archive Life Cycle of the Silk Moth 1976 · Educational Also issued as videocassette Uses closeups and slow-motion photography in presenting the silk moth's life cycle. Follows various moth species in the act of… Internet Archive This Is Life 1950 · Film Film sponsored by the trade association to show how livestock and poultry are raised on farms and ranches and brought to the American dinner table. The film… Internet Archive This is Edward Steichen 1965 · Educational · 27 min Portrays Edward Steichen, who has elevated photographic portraiture to an art. Shows some of his world-famous photographs and his renowned 'Family of Man'… Internet Archive Walk-in Intermission 2 Short · 1 min This one's really short, just over a minute, no snack bar ads. It was used as a second intermission for a triple feature. Suggestion: insert this clip between… Internet Archive The Global Assembly Line 1986 · Educational · 28 min A story about a little boy who wins a goldfish in a game of chance and takes it home to become a friend of his canary, telling how the pets almost succumb to… Internet Archive YWCA PSA Commercial Public service announcement for the Young Women's Christian Association. To license this film and get a higher quality version for broadcast/film purposes,… Internet Archive 1104 Sutton Road 1958 · Film Self-improvement film funded by a paper company. In the story a dissatisfied factory worker imagines what it would be like to become a company foreman or the… Internet Archive Metric America 1973 · Film Animation to highlight reasons for American metric conversion. Introduces the meter, liter, kilogram and Celsius. Emphasizes prefixes and stresses the decimal… Internet Archive Hurricane Below 1974 · Film Hurricane Below' presents the gripping story of the plight of a commercial fishing vessel, caught in the path of a 'killer' hurricane. The film dramatically… Internet Archive The Case of Barbara Parsons 1978 · Educational · 27 min Writer and director, Morten Parker A dramatization of a grievance case in a manufacturing plant