Ephemeral films

2,257–2,304 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 The Shock of the New: The Powers That Be 1980 · Educational · 30 min Intended audience: College students and adults Issued also as videorecording Art critic Robert Hughes discusses the impact of mechanized warfare and mass… Internet Archive Admiral Cigarette 1897 · Film Early advertising film. Various national symbols—an American Indian, John Bull, Uncle Sam—appear in front of an ADMIRAL CIGARETTE sign. A showgirl leaps out… Internet Archive The Forbidden City 1975 · Educational · 22 min The Forbidden City, Reel 1 Reel 2 available here Explores the history and culture of China as reflected in the art and architectural treasures of the… Internet Archive Men Of Gloucester 1949 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles Description of the daily life of the fishermen of Gloucester , small town of the coast of Massachusetts : activities at home , fishing in high seas , storm at… Internet Archive SFCannabis Club Raid 1996 · Film · Subtitles Medical Marijuana hearings at San Francisco's Board of Supervisors following a cannabis buyer's club raid. August, 1996. See scans of liner notes for detailed… Internet Archive Ecology Emerges: Jerry Mander 2009 · Feature · 1 h 6 min Jerry Mander, an advertising guy in the 1960s who collaborated with David Brower's early Sierra Club campaigns against damming the Grand Canyon and many… Internet Archive Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed 1968 · Educational · 52 min Narrator, Bill Cosby Shows some of the contributions to the development and wealth of the United States which have been made by Negroes Internet Archive Filmstrip: "'An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving' by Louisa May Alcott" 1977 · 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 Cuba: In the Shadow of Doubt 1986 · Educational · 59 min · Subtitles Title from data sheet Camera, Jeff Wayman, Tom Hurwitz ; editors, Kate Taverna, S. Bauman ; narrator, Raul Julia ; music, Jim Burroughs, Brian Keane General… Internet Archive So Long, Pal 1974 · Film The catalogue says "Uses fantasy and humor in order to break down the resistance to treatment of people arrested for drunken driving and to promote alcohol… Internet Archive World In A Camera 1952 · Film Dwight D. Eisenhower enters 1952 Republican party primary; blizzard at California's Donner Pass; Winston Churchill visits the United States; nuclear test at… Internet Archive Performance Appraisal: The Human Dynamics 1978 · Educational · 24 min Narration by Charles Aidman, Lloyd Bridges Photographed by Rick Robertson, Eric Daarstad ; edited by Andrew Stein Title from film Film: 895 feet Film… Internet Archive Living Treasures of Japan 1980 · Educational · 58 min Profiles nine artisans and performing artists who are recognized by law as "holders of important intangible cultural properties" and are charged with publicly… Internet Archive Work of the Blood 1957 · Educational · 13 min Work of the Blood An interpretation by Alexander Calder and Randy Matter of the works of Calder, suggesting an interconnection between movements in nature and… Internet Archive Snack Bar Castleberry Barbeque (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Snack bar Castleberry Barbeque (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :37 Sound: Yes Color Description: A color film from… Internet Archive Freedom to speak: people of New York vs. Irving Feiner 1967 · Educational · 22 min Producer, John Barnes; director, Robert Q. Lovett Recounts the case of Feiner vs. the people of New York to examine the meaning of the basic rights of freedom… Internet Archive Greenland Film Greenland We digitized and uploaded this film from the Orgone Cinema 16mm Archive. Email us at footage@avgeeks.com if you have questions about the footage and… Internet Archive Controlling Atomic Energy 1960 · Film Living Science Series Presents a brief summarization of concepts relating to atomic structure and behavior. Discusses the meaning of radioactivity, how… Internet Archive In Search of Bach 1983 · Educational · 1 h · Subtitles Samuel Baron, music director and flutist ; James Buswell, violinist ; Susan Davenny-Wyner, soprano ; Timothy Eddy, cellist ; Seth McCoy, tenor ; Thomas Paul,… Internet Archive Inside the Golden Gate. Part 1. [Motion picture] 1976 · Educational · 40 min Also issued as videocassette Examines the ecological problems caused by pollution and the dumping of millions of tons of landfill into the San Francisco Bay… Internet Archive Agents Of Change May 3 2017 2017 · Film Fred Glass ( From Mission to Microchip: A History of the California Labor Movement ), takes a long look at the labor history of California with Chris Carlsson… Internet Archive 30 Years of Fun 1962 · Educational Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Syd Chaplin A comprehensive survey of the most notable motion picture comedians from the earliest… Internet Archive Fly Lorenz 1984 · Educational Title from data sheet A foreign film (West Germany) College students and adults Using computer-generated animation, shows and explains the Lorenz… Internet Archive Drive-in: Radio Active Film about 15 seconds. suggestion; insert clip directly before 'coming attractions' clip when creating drive-in dvd. Internet Archive Water in the Air 1949 · Film Introduces the concept of the water cycle and explains evaporation and condensation. Shows that water in the air is responsible for clouds, fog, dew, rain,… Internet Archive Svengali 1971 · Educational · 45 min Svengali Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film A Christmas tale of the regeneration of the miserly Scrooge.… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Using Electrical Energy" 1978 · 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 300 1999 · Film · Subtitles Peter Tosh, Mayoral Debates, Dawn Passar, Seattle Riots, JFK jr. Burial at sea, Monica Lewinsky. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive DOPE 492 2006 · Film · Subtitles Schmidt 16 strikeouts, Angelides vs. Westly, Bonds 716. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Let's Visit A Poultry Farm 1948 · Film Six-year-old Betty visits a poultry farm, where she helps feed the chickens, sees them at various stages of development, watches a boy clean the eggs for… Internet Archive Reformer Techniques 1992 · Film "This 76 minute video introduces you to Curent Concepts' Studio Reformer and demonstrates over fifty exercises from fifteen exercise categories."--… Internet Archive The Disordered Mind: Paranoid Schizophrenia (1963) 1961 · Educational · 27 min The Disordered Mind: Paranoid Schizophrenia (1963) Shows how Paul Taylor, an exponent of modern dance, functions as creator and performer. Includes excerpts… Internet Archive Lenin Prepares for Revolution 1969 · Educational Publisher's catalog series title: The Russian revolution series Examines the life of Lenin from 1870 to the outbreak of World War I, and studies the… Internet Archive The Solar Film 1979 · Educational Title from data sheet Presented by Warner Communications, inc. and Norton Simon Inc Also issued as videorecording Producers, Saul Bass, Michael Britton;… Internet Archive I Promise to Remember: Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers 1983 · Educational Title from data sheet Intended audience: Junior high school through college students and adults Issued also as videorecording This documentary deals with… Internet Archive The Class That Went to War 1978 · Educational Traces the lives of some members of a 1964 Chatam, N.J., high school graduating class and shows how they were influenced by the war in Vietnam. Shows how the… Internet Archive Learning how to swim 1938 · Film Analysis of buoyancy and breathing followed by an explanation of swimming strokes and skills. This film can be purchased on DVD and higher quality versions of… Internet Archive Drive-in Intermission 3 Film Compleat intermission film with the popcorn and soda pop. Suggestion: insert clip between two movies to make a double feature dvd. Internet Archive House Fly, The 1958 · Film Uses micro-photography and magnification to portray the habits and life history of the common housefly and the ways in which it is a menace to health. Traces… Internet Archive Protists: Threshold of Life 1974 · Educational Also issued as videocassette Presents the tiny organisms called protists, including the euglena, the amoeba, and the paramecium. Shows how thousands of… Internet Archive Sue's Leg: Remembering the '30s -- Twyla Tharp and Dancers 1976 · Educational · 1 h Library has reel 2 only Choreographer, Twyla Tharp ; music, Fats Waller About various styles of dance in the 1930's. Tries to show how dance conveys the… Internet Archive DOPE 452 2004 · Film · Subtitles Election results Bush Wins, oh fuck! See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Bay And Delta Infrastructure May 10 2017 2017 · Film Adaptation Infrastructure and Rising Seas: the Delta, the Delta Tunnels, restoration projects around the bay..... Tim Stroshane ( Restore the Delta ) and… Internet Archive Starfinder, Episode 21: Celestial Sphere 1990 · Film Starfinder, Episode 21: Celestial Sphere Description: (December 11, 1990) Episode 21 of Starfinder focuses on the celestial sphere. It provides an… Internet Archive DOPE 015 1987 · Film Star Wars cantina scene (Greedo speaks Inca, AIDS, gay addicts, pregnant mothers should abort, anti-condom ads, tobacco ads, Colombia coke crusade, AIDS stats… Internet Archive Cops 1922 · Educational · 15 min Buster's girl won't marry him until he's successful in business. Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Internet Archive DOPE 282 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 Salute To The Troops: The Best of Bob Hope 2001 · Film "In the 50 years of entertaining American GI's around the world, Bob 'Globetrotter ' Hope logged enough miles to travel back and forth to the moon over a…