Ephemeral films

2,977–3,024 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 CPR for Citizens 1981 · Educational Title from data sheet Narrator, Orson Wells ; medical director, Archer S. Gordon Intended audience: General Issued also in French, German, and Spanish… Internet Archive Movies March On Film From "March of Time" newsreel series. All about Hollywood, etc. Great footage of Hays and his commision. Uses film clips to present a history of the movies,… Internet Archive DOPE 211 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 25 Years of Progress, Episode 3: Around The World 1983 · Film This video is part of the 25 Years of Progress series produced by the Lewis Research Center. To license this film and get a higher quality version for… Internet Archive Preschool Child 1968 · Educational · 31 min Shows the rapid development of gross motor skills and beginning development of fine motor skills through the medium of play activities. Discusses the… Internet Archive Jane Powell's Fight Back With Fitness 1986 · Film · Subtitles "This program consists of: 25 minutes of warm-ups, 22 minutes of floor exercises." -- description from box. Internet Archive Discovering Color 1978 · Educational With study guide Explains that colors differ in three ways: hue, value, and intensity. Discusses hues, pointing out that they are the names given to parts of… Internet Archive The Making of an American 1920 · Film Docudrama encouraging immigrants to master English and become successful, assimilated Americans. In the story the poor English-language skills of an Italian… Internet Archive Between the Wars: Latin America--Intervention in Our Own Backyard 1978 · Educational · 25 min Originally broadcast in 1978 Using documentary footage, examines four decades of U.S. intervention in Latin America from the Spanish American War in 1898… Internet Archive DOPE 356 2002 · Film · Subtitles Ed Rusenthal Trial, Marijuana Logs, WAMM bust See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive How the Ear Functions 1940 · Film OUTLINES STRUCTURE & FUNCTION OF THE HUMAN EAR, SOUND WAVES ARE BRIEFLY EXPLAINED. ANIMATION REVEALS FUNCTION OF TYMPANIC MEMBRANE & OSSICLES OF EAR BONES &… Internet Archive Angry Boy 1950 · Film Simple, affecting case study produced for social workers and psychologists and illustrating how counseling can help children come to terms with anger. Young… Internet Archive Let's Get Lost - Chet Baker 1989 · Film Let's Get Lost / Chet Baker Japanese version. -- description from box. Internet Archive Waves 1977 · Educational Also issued as videocassette Editor, Eric Mival Uses music, natural sounds, and imaginative photography to show the natural beauty and power of the ocean.… Internet Archive FULL VERSION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI FILM THEY DIDN'T WANT US TO SEE 34962 Film This film is derived from footage taken by Japanese filmmaker Akira Iwasaki and produced by the U.S. Department of War in 1946. Much of the material in the… Internet Archive The Night Sky, Episode 2: A Binocular Tour Through the Night Sky 1993 · Film Episode 2 discusses the operating principles of binoculars and the types of objects that can be viewed. Shows the planets and constellations for the week of… Internet Archive Those Magnificent Wind Machines 1980 · Film The evolution of the NASA wind program is traced from 1973 to 1980. Wind turbines for producing energy are discussed extensively. This is part of the NASA at… Internet Archive Starfinder, Epsiode 19: Ancient Astronomers 1990 · Film (December 10, 1990) Episode 19 of Starfinder focuses on ancient astronomers and the importance of observation and accurate data collection in science. The… Internet Archive The Story of the Cat 1987 · Cartoon CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STUDY GUIDE FOR THIS FILM An animated allegory about a curious cat who delights in the mysteries of the world until gradually his… Internet Archive The Hutterites: To Care and Not to Care 1984 · Educational · 59 min Title from data sheet Photographer, film editor, Burton Buller ; narrator, John L. Ruth ; consultants, John A. Hostetler ... [et al.] Issued also in longer… Internet Archive Goodbye to Garbage Short · 5 min This film introduces housewives to the miracle appliance that is the garbage disposal. To license this film and get a higher quality version for… Internet Archive Flood Special Pennsylvania 1936 1936 · Film On flood relief operations of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Pennsylvania. Flood-damaged goods are shoveled out of stores in Sharpsburg. Debris… Internet Archive Down To The Sea In Ships 1968 · Educational · 19 min Down To The Sea In Ships reel 1 Traces the history and drama of the sea, the ships, and the men who sail them. Includes historic footage of clipper ships… Internet Archive The Children Must Learn 1940 · Film Documentary profiling an Appalachian farming family struggling to scrape out a living. Link­ing education and economic development, The Children Must Learn… Internet Archive A to B 1973 · Educational Shorter version released in 1971 under the same title A sixteen-year-old girl encounters a new life style when she moves into the world of hippies and… Internet Archive DOPE 130 Film · Subtitles Mission Impossible, heroin, World Series, earthquake, Oct 1989 See scans of liner notes for detailed content. Internet Archive The Woman Hater 1910 · Film Early Pearl White vehicle in which a disgruntled suitor, claiming to hate all women, changes his tune after his girlfriend saves him from Indians. Preserved… Internet Archive Cassette: "Goosebumps Sounds of Halloween 1996 · Film SEEKING SOUND FILMSTRIPS FOR PRESERVATION. Sound filmstrip was a 35mm film-based still image educational media format used in schools and industry. I am the… Internet Archive Adventures Of Bunny Rabbit 1937 · Film Portrays the life of a family of rabbits. Relates the adventures of young Bunny who, visiting a nearby farm in search of lettuce, encounters a frog, a… Internet Archive Fundamentals Of Acoustics 1950 · Film Compares sound waves with water waves, provides examples of echoes and explains how they affect acoustics indoors, demonstrates effects of different wall… Internet Archive Is This Your First? 1993 · Film "Features Emmy Award winning writer/producer Mark Scharenboich speaking to a childbirth class about the joys, fears, humor and beauty involved in the birth of… Internet Archive A Group of Women 1966 · Educational Ju/'hoan women often share an intimate sociability and spend many hours together discussing their lives, enjoying each other's company and children. In this… Internet Archive Everything's Better in America 1976 · Educational · 54 min The series Destination America explores the making of the American nation through the influx of successive generations of European migrants. Deals with the… Internet Archive Games people play : the theory. [Motion picture] 1967 · Educational · 27 min Presents interviews with Eric Berne in which he explains the assumptions upon which his theory of transactional analysis is based Internet Archive Grace Kelly: The American Princess 1987 · Educational Title from data sheet Richard Kiley Ages 12 through adult Traces Grace Kelly's life from its beginning in Philadelphia to its tragic ending on a mountain… Internet Archive Native American Myths 1976 · Educational Collaborators, Alfonso Ortiz, Stephen S. Jones, Hazel John, Frank Collison, Barbara Bravo, Mary Lou Byler An animated film presenting five American Indian… Internet Archive Ancient Greece 1976 · Educational Shows the Parthenon, the Academia, the Plain of Marathon, Delphi, and the Athenian countryside while pointing out the achievements of the Ancient Greeks in… Internet Archive Media Probes, Episode 6 : Design 1981 · Educational How various media affect the way people live and think is explored in this informative magazine-style survey that includes documentary, animated and… Internet Archive Clothes We Wear 1954 · Film Discusses the animal, plant, and synthetic fibers; contrasts primitive and modern methods of spinning thread and weaving cloth; and points out the abundance… Internet Archive Day Without Numbers 1958 · Film Depicts a primary-grade youngster who becomes willing to work with numbers after he spends a day without numbers. Emphasizes the many daily uses for numbers.… Internet Archive Conquest of the Hudson 1938 · Film Film about the planning, construction, and operation of the Lincoln Tunnel. Released one year after the structure opened, Conquest of the Hudson shows the… Internet Archive Development of the chick. [motion picture] 1966 · Educational · 23 min Living chick embryos and perspective drawings illustrate early development of the amnion, chorion, yolk sac, and allantois. Describes amnion contractions,… Internet Archive Kuumba 1978 · Cartoon Producer, Carol Munday Lawrence An animated story about a young boy who is searching for a new instrument with which to celebrate Trinidad's pre-Easter… Internet Archive Mixed Marriages: Homosexual Husbands 1977 · Educational Originally shown on the television series 60 minutes Also issued as videotape Producer, Jeanne Solomon; narrator, Mike Wallace Focuses on the lifestyles… Internet Archive Animal Secrets: Primates (1966) 1967 · Educational · 24 min Traces the rise of the primates. Examines the anatomical changes, the beginnings of sociality and speech, the more complex brain, the semi - erect posture and… Internet Archive Cassette: "Shari Lewis tells her One-Minute Greek Myths" 1988 · Film SEEKING SOUND FILMSTRIPS FOR PRESERVATION. Sound filmstrip was a 35mm film-based still image educational media format used in schools and industry. I am the… Internet Archive Christmas Fantasy, A Film Odd Christmas short featuring idyllic scenes of Christmas and a creepy Santa mask This film can be purchased on DVD and higher quality versions of the film… Internet Archive Heart And Circulation 1937 · Film Uses animated drawings to show how the heart and blood vessels circulate blood throughout the body. Includes microscopic scenes of capillary action and…