Ephemeral films

2,305–2,352 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 Common Sense, Self-Defense 1978 · Educational This is an instructional film about women's self-defense from 1977. It presents simple, easily performed self-defense tactics for women. Based on the book,… Internet Archive DOPE 206 1992 · Film · Subtitles AIDS Conf, Prop P, Magic J, Brownie Mary, Michelle APAN See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Drive-in: Goodnight-Stop Film runs about 30 seconds. suggestion; insert clip at very end of final feature when creating drive-in dvd Internet Archive American Medical Association rebuttal to "What Price Health?". 1973 · Educational · 16 min · Subtitles In an interview with Frank McGee on the "Today" show, Dr. Russell B. Roth, president of the AMA, outlines objections to the NBC television special, What Price… Internet Archive Auditory screening for infants 1961 · Educational · 15 min · Subtitles Live Date is production date Summary Describes an auditory screening method known as the distraction technique, which must be learned from an experienced… Internet Archive Clown Countdown (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Clown Countdown (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :23 Sound: Yes Color Description: Short countdown clips used in between… Internet Archive Novel: Saul Bellow The World of The Dangling Man 1966 · Educational · 27 min Novel: Saul Bellow The World of The Dangling Man History of black Americans in music and poetry. Their emergence from the slave state of over three hundred… Internet Archive We Work Again 1937 1937 · Educational Documentary: On the employment of Negroes in Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. Reel 1: Contrasts scenes of Negroes waiting in breadlines with… Internet Archive DOPE 226 1993 · Film · Subtitles Needle Exchange, Pot Legalize, 60 mins heroin, DEA series, Tim Leary interview, Billie Holiday, Joe McNamara, Karen Norman, Craig Noble pot film See scans of… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Food: An Energy Exchange System" 1974 · 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 Fundamentals Of Public Speaking 1950 · Film Uses a school situation to show the importance of public speaking. Tells how to analyze a speech situation, and how to plan and deliver an effective talk.… Internet Archive Filmstrip: "The Intimacies of Marriage" 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 Pigeon Palace Highlights 2015 · Film Ten minutes from the May 5, 2015 demonstration in front of 2840-2848 Folsom Street in San Francisco during the last open house before offers went in... some… Internet Archive DOPE 469 2005 · Film · Subtitles Reefer Madness, Oscars, North by Northwest. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive DC-X - The Future is Now! 1993 · Film Introduction to the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) reusable launch vehicle test project. It was initiated by the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Defense… Internet Archive Contraception 1973 · Educational · 23 min Also issued in super-8 mm. cassette Consultant, T. E. Pengelley; production adviser, Solomon Kaplan Points out the needs for contraceptives during… Internet Archive CHINA IN THE 1960s FOOTAGE (SILENT) CHAIRMAN MAO GREAT LEAP FORWARD CULTURAL REVOLUTION 79924 Documentary This silent reel of documentary footage shows The People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1960s, illustrating the era of Chairman Mao Zedong’s reign of power… Internet Archive The World at War: 17 -- Morning, June - August 1944 1944 · Educational · 56 min The World at War: 17 -- Morning, June - August 1944 Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Summary Documents… Internet Archive [Seat belt Public Service Announcements] 1970 · Film Public Service Announcements Tenn State coach and Child restraint. seat belts prevent headaches, pumpkin crashing, egg crashing. Help us get more films like… Internet Archive Judy Davis, Former Rainbow Worker 2019 · Film Judy Davis, a veteran worker at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, reminisces about her earlier days in San Francisco, her life at the venerable cooperative… Internet Archive Stress 1956 · Educational Dr. Hans Selye of the University of Montreal explains the nature of "stress" as a general alarm reaction through the pituitary and adrenal glands, set off by… Internet Archive DOPE 449 2004 · Film · Subtitles Bush lies, Kerry frenzy, World Series Red Sox II See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Wonder Of Reproduction 1958 · Film Children watch Siamese fighting fish and the Egyptian mouth breeder in aquariums. They witness the reproductive processes of these fish. This film can be… Internet Archive Destination America: 4--Everything is Better in America 1976 · Educational · 28 min · Subtitles Destination America: 4--Everything is Better in America Reel 1 Reel 2 available here The series Destination America explores the making of the American nation… Internet Archive Destination America: 1--Old World, New World 1977 · Educational · 31 min · Subtitles Destination America: 1--Old World, New World Reel 1 Reel 2 available here Summary: The introductory chapter in a series of eight films that traces the history… Internet Archive Identifying speech disorders. 1972 · Educational · 21 min · Subtitles Produced by M.S. Berman and E.A. Leach A series of interviews with subjects displaying misarticulation. Offers examples of difficulties with various sound… Internet Archive Project 6 1993 · Film "Riders: Steve Graham, John Cardiel, Mike Ranquet, Bryan Iguchi, Terje Haakonsen, Jim Rippey, Circe Wallace, Jamie Lynn, Jason Basarich, Shawn Farmer, Jay… Internet Archive DOPE 302 1999 · Film · Subtitles Peter Tosh, Mayoral Debates, Dawn Passar, Seattle Riots. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Getting Ready Emotionally 1951 · Film This was part of the “Are You Ready for Service?” series and was shown to high school boys to prepare them for being drafted into the military. “Get yourself… Internet Archive Children of Wax: A Folktale from Zimbabwe 1988 · Cartoon Title from data sheet Editor, Kathleen Houston ; narrator, Robert Trotter ; music, Marimba Productions General Presents a folktale from Africa about five… Internet Archive Paddington Goes to School 1984 · Educational Title from data sheet Animator, Martin Pullen ; film editor, Robert Dunbar ; narrator, Michael Hordern ; music, Bert Chappel Based on: Paddington goes to… Internet Archive Summer Of Love Or Vietnam Summer May 31 2017 2017 · Film Video of Music, Art, & Politics of 1967: Was it all peace and love or did the anti-war movement really define the era? A conversational antidote to the narrow… Internet Archive Red Ball Express 1975 · Cartoon Uses animation techniques in order to create various shapes and colors representing a train Film by Steve Segal ; music played by Cecil Creasey Internet Archive Revolution in the Colonial World 1958 · Educational · 28 min Revolution in the Colonial World Summary Discusses the present conflict between the remaining colonial powers of the West and the newly independent countries… Internet Archive The Grand Inquisitor 1975 · Educational Produced by the BBC for the British Open University Presents Sir John Gielgud as the Grand Inquisitor in a monologue excerpted from the cinematic… Internet Archive Welcome to Parenthood 1979 · Educational Discusses the rewards and sacrifices of parenthood as experienced by three young couples Internet Archive Peddlin' Safety 1974 · Film Lots of seventies fashion and bikes. Discusses bicycle safety practices, including hand signa This film can be purchased on DVD and higher quality versions of… Internet Archive Hungarian X-Ray Film 1960 · Educational · 10 min The articulatory movements of the Hungarian language are shown by X-ray techniques. Prepared scripts illustrate selected phonetic features in the phonemic… Internet Archive Parliamentary Procedure Made Simple: The Basics 1994 · Film "This Video Is for everyone who belongs to an organization and needs to know the basics of parliamentary procedure. It makes Roberts Rules of Order easy to… Internet Archive A Boy Named Terry Egan 1973 · Educational · 50 min A Boy Named Terry Egan Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Life of a nine-year-old autistic boy at home and… Internet Archive Broken Glass 1962 · Film Interprets the hazards inherent to the intersection, using staged collisions with anthropomorphic dummies. This film can be purchased on DVD and higher… Internet Archive Learning Multiplication 1993 · Film "A video that introduces and explains the fundamentals of multiplication, with Lorraine Bryant." -- description from box. Internet Archive From Kaiser To Fuehrer 1960 · Educational · 25 min Tells the story of the ill - fated Weimar Republic, from its conception following the first World War to its dissolution in 1933. Attributes the fall of the… Internet Archive Jimmy the C 1978 · Cartoon An animated film, in which Jimmy Carter, using the voice of Ray Charles, sings nostalgically of the simpler days prior to his Presidency Internet Archive Filmstrip: "Refrigerators, Stoves, And Other Appliances" 1981 · 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 The Stringbean 1963 · Film A poor old Paris seamstress nurtures a potted string bean plant in her apartment before replanting it in the nearby Jardin de Tuileries. Internet Archive Destination America: 4--Everything is Better in America 1976 · Educational · 26 min · Subtitles Destination America: 4--Everything is Better in America Reel 2 Reel 1 available here The series Destination America explores the making of the American nation… Internet Archive How To Judge Facts 1948 · Film Money for the football team is being used to buy a film projector and causes a big stink! A/V Geeks and jocks on the brink of gang war! Helps students…