Ephemeral films

2,401–2,448 of 19,487 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 Accomplished Women 1974 · Educational · 25 min · Subtitles Pictures six women--Katherine Graham, Virginia Apgar, LaDonna Harris, Shirley Chisholm, Nikki Giovanni, and Helen Reddy, who discuss a wide range of topics… Internet Archive The Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Part 1: The First Year 1974 · Educational VHS Produced by Dr. Jane McV. Hunt and the Institute of Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley Examiner administers the Bayley Mental… Internet Archive A Doll's House — Part II: Ibsen's Themes (1967) 1967 · Educational · 28 min · Subtitles PART I MAY BE VIEWED HERE (LINK) Probes the roots of aggression in human behavior, determines the difference between constructive and destructive aggression,… Internet Archive Flow Visualization 1963 · Educational · 30 min Flow Visualization Uses time lapse photography and experimental techniques, demonstrated by Louis J. Battan, Patrick Squires, and J. Doyne Sartor, to describe… Internet Archive Learning Through Movement 1971 · Educational Photography, Paul Barlin Through games and miming actions, Anne Barlin makes children aware of the body and give them confidence about movement. She… Internet Archive The High Wall 1952 · Film Film produced for a coalition of public service groups to combat racial and ethnic hatred. The narrative follows an emotionally insecure Chicago teenager… Internet Archive DOPE 277 1997 · Film · Subtitles Deneuve smoke Opium, A&E Prohibition, Elvis meets Nixon, Princess Diana dead, Mother Teresa, HBO "Flashback", PEP Study, Science Fiction. See scans of liner… Internet Archive Dr. Pepper Jazz (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial · 1 min Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Dr. Pepper Jazz (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- 1:05 Sound: Yes (enhanced) Color Description: A color animation with a… Internet Archive Windows on Mars 2000 · Film Discover and research ways that scientists and artists view the potential of living on Mars. Combines the realities of scientific principles concerning travel… Internet Archive Children's Emotions 1950 · Educational · 20 min Discusses the child's major emotions--fear, curiosity, anger, jealousy, and joy--and points out the principal characteristics of each. An inside look at China… Internet Archive Voyager 2: Neptune Encounter 1989 · Film Computer graphics, actual images, and stock footage of the Voyager 2’s Neptune encounter are narrated with music. Aug 8, 1989 To license this film and get a… Internet Archive Aquarium 1978 · Educational Executive Producer, Bill Walker ; Editor, Bob Gronowski Presents an unnarrated look at a variety of sea creatures using underwater photography Internet Archive Metropolitan Cats 1984 · Educational Title from data sheet Based on the book: Metropolitan cats / text by John P. O'Neill Intended audience: General Issued also as videorecording From the… Internet Archive DOPE 465 2005 · Film · Subtitles Iraq elections, New tire - Meth + Zoloft. See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive Story of the Prodigal Son 1950 · Film A retelling of the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son with marionettes. We’re sure that “gay stranger” meant something else in 1950 Internet Archive Spinal Column: Structure and Function in Man 1956 · Educational Last inspected: Answer print: 199005. Condition complete; torn performations/.35% shrinkage/brittle/scratched Last inspected: Duplicate negative: 199005.… Internet Archive How Could I Not Be Among You: The Poetry of Ted Rosenthal 1971 · Educational · 28 min Director, Thomas Reichman Presents a portrait of Ted Rosenthal, a poet who has been told that he has six months to live. He discusses how he faces death and… Internet Archive Kennedy vs. Khrushchev: Missile Showdown 1964 · Educational · 25 min Narrated by Edmond O'Brien and directed by Alan Landsburg An account of the Cuban missile crisis and the confrontation between President John F. Kennedy and… Internet Archive Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World 1963 · Educational Presents two views of the poet Robert Frost--his public performance and his private thoughts. Shows Frost at Sarah Lawrence College with a large appreciative… Internet Archive DOPE 257 1996 · Film · Subtitles Willie Brown, Pat Norman, Tim Leary Dies, SF Buyers Club, Andrew Weil, Dem Convention, Prop 215, CIA-Cocaine. See liner note scans. Internet Archive Flight of Faith 7, The 1963 · Film Video documents the flight of Mercury-Atlas 9 – the last of the manned Mercury missions. The capsule, named Faith 7, orbited the Earth 22 times. To license… Internet Archive Rappaccini's Daughter 1980 · Educational · 56 min Title from data sheet Also issued as videorecording Kristoffer Tabor, Kathleen Beller Executive producer, Robert Geller; director, Dexso Magyar Based on… Internet Archive Molly Martin And Ruth Mahaney On Early Lesbian Bars 2019 · Film Molly Martin, interviewed in February 2019, and Ruth Mahaney, interviewed in December 2018, speak about their memories of lesbian bars in the 1970s and 1980s. Internet Archive Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest 1977 · Educational Produced, written and reported by Gil Noble Based on the book by Bernard Waber Photographs, filmclips, interviews, sound recordings and newspaper clippings… Internet Archive Time for Table Manners 1987 · Cartoon Grades K-4 Shows proper manners from setting the table to cleaning up the eating area Internet Archive Intermission 3 - Coke Painter (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Intermission 3 - Coke Painter (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :56 Sound: Yes (enhanced) Description: An animated short… Internet Archive Saving The Bay From The Future March 28 2018 2018 · Film From the weird madness of the Reber Plan to dam both ends of the Bay into freshwater lakes in the 1950s to the Save the Bay movement of the early 1960s that… Internet Archive Memoirs of a Movie Palace 1980 · Educational Title from data sheet Explores the aura and significance of a grand, pre-Depression movie palace through the recollections of a vaudevillian, patrons, the… Internet Archive The Birth of Soviet Cinema 1972 · Educational · 49 min Producer and adapter, Harold Mantell; writer and narrator, Richard Schickel Examines the golden age of cinema in the 1920's in Russia by presenting excerpts… Internet Archive BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 7th, 1941 & ROYAL NAVY ATTACK ON FRENCH FLEET at ORAN 70912 1942 · Film This short and apparently hastily assembled newsreel shows the events of December 7th, 1941 and expresses deep outrage at the Japanese bombing of Pearl… Internet Archive Ballet Robotique 1982 · Educational Title from data sheet Camera, Reed Smoot ; editor, Marshall Harvey ; music, David Spear Presents a nonverbal fantasy of robots from the General Motors… Internet Archive Mosaic 1965 · Educational An art film designed to play on the retina of the eye, using geometric and abstract design along with fast flickers and rapid fluctuations of complimentary… Internet Archive Fallen Eagle 1950 · Film dvertising film for tobacco products profiling the modern Sioux people of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Fallen Eagle includes reenactments of… Internet Archive Smokey And The Little Boy 1960 · Film Presents a special Smokey Bear animated cartoon featurette which combines several of the Smokey Bear 1-minute animated spots. This film can be purchased on… Internet Archive Madeline's Rescue 1964 · Cartoon Animated drawings from Ludwig Bemelman's book tell the story of Madeline's rescue from the River Seine by Genevieve, the dog Internet Archive Discovery's Baby Animal Tales with Jake: Cuddly Cubs 1997 · Film "...time for a little fun with a lot of baby animals! Join our friendly four-legged canine storyteller Jake, plus his puppy pals Lucy, Scooter, and… Internet Archive Sculpture: The Human Figure, Greece 478-336 B.C. 1978 · Educational · 26 min Produced by the BBC for the British Open University Analyzes Greek works of art that demonstrates the changing attitude of sculptors toward the human figure.… Internet Archive 19 Minutes To Earth 1978 · Film This video, developed for grades 9 through 12, examines the scientific findings of the unmanned Viking missions to Mars. Viewers are introduced to a variety… Internet Archive Angry Boy 1951 · Educational · 30 min Angry Boy Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Shows that angular momenta add vectorially. Demonstrates the… Internet Archive Drive-in: And Now Its Showtime-Nightscreen Film Runs about 5 seconds. Insert clip directly before first feature on your drive-in dvd Internet Archive Cosmic Zoom 1969 · Educational Drawings, Eva Szasz; animation camera, Raymond Dumas, Wayne Trickett, James Wilson; actuality camera, Tony Ianelo Uses the camera device of the zoom to give… Internet Archive How Ballet Was Saved 1970 · Educational Introducer and narrator, David Blair Brenda Last, Nicholas Johnson, Janet Francis, Margaret Barbieri, Oliver Symons, and other dancers of the Royal Ballet,… Internet Archive Fiddlesticks 1930 · Educational Fiddlesticks was the first film in the Flip the Frog series. It was ground-breaking as the first complete sound cartoon to be photographed in two-strip… Internet Archive Great Railway Journeys of the World: Deccan 1980 · Educational Brian Thompson Writer Brian Thompson travels by train in India, south from Bombay, passing though four states, crossing the dusty Decca Plain, into the… Internet Archive The Pygmies 1976 · Educational · 46 min Examines the lifestyle of the Pygmies, who live in the rain forests of Africa. Shows their adaptation to their environment but explains that, like other… Internet Archive EMF( Electromagnetic Field) 1962 · Educational "The Physical Science Study Committee with the support of The National Science Foundation, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Ford Foundation presents as… Internet Archive Judith Baker Montano's Silk Ribbon Embroidery 1996 · Film Enjoy learning basic concepts of ribbon embroidery - how to fold, twist, stitch, knot and manipulate ribbon. Internet Archive Maintenance Of Office Machines 1943 · Film Shows care and maintenance of such office machines as typewriters, transcribing machines, dictaphones, adding machines and calculators. Deals with a number of…