Ephemeral films

3,073–3,120 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 Never Go With Strangers 1971 · Short · 17 min A 1971 British classroom film with the message 'say no to strangers'. Produced by Balfour Films for the Central Office of Information. Internet Archive Cassette: "The London Symphony Orchestra Plays the Music of ABBA" 1994 · 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 Welcome Back, Norman 1979 · Educational Norman turns common misfortune into near disaster as the typical weary traveler in a busy airport parking lot Internet Archive Time Dilation : An Experiment With Mu-Mesons 1962 · Film Depicts an experiment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on top of Mt Washington, New Hampshire, using radioactive decay of cosmic ray mu-mesons to… Internet Archive Windows Of Heaven 1979 · Educational · 32 min In 1899, an aging President Lorenzo Snow is deeply troubled by the Church's crippling debt, left over from the anti-polygamy crusades of the 1880s. He feels… Internet Archive Destination: Mars 1997 · Film This video looks to a future manned spaceflight to Mars (Antares) and the challenges that such a mission will face. This video was produced by Johnson Space… Internet Archive Documentary: Part 1 1979 · Educational A history of the non-fiction film from "Man With A Movie Camera" to "Harlan County". A compilation of major sequences from landmark documentaries with brief… Internet Archive Everybody's prejudiced 1961 · Educational · 20 min Credits: Producer, Peter Jones; director, Donald Brittain; script, Donald Brittain; music, Eldon Rathburn; cameraman, Robert Humble; film editor, John KemenyA… Internet Archive Watercolor Painting: Abstract Designs from Nature with Edward Betts 1973 · Educational · 19 min With study guide Preparing for a watercolor, artist Edward Betts makes several pencil drawings at a quarry. In his studio he develops one of his drawings… Internet Archive When You Wake Up 1974 · Short · 16 min A 1974 British recruitment film for the Women's Royal Army Corps. Very lighthearted. Produced by Paragon Films for the Central Office of Information. Internet Archive 25 Years of Progress, Episode 5: Gemini The Twins 1983 · Film During 1964-66 two-man Gemini space flights provided scientists and astronauts with invaluable information and experience. The soft landing of Surveyor I on… Internet Archive Read-Along Magic Video: What Every Child Should Know 1985 · Film "A Positive Program To Help Your Child Recognize And Avoid Potentially Dangerous Situations." -- description from box. Internet Archive There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Leagues 1983 · Educational · 59 min Title from data sheet Narrator, James Earl Jones Intended audience: General Issued also as videorecording Chronicles the history of Black baseball leagues… Internet Archive Radio Kings 2 1994 · Film · Subtitles Promotional video for San Francisco's WILD FM radio morning show "The Doghouse". Internet Archive Drive-in: Feature Presentation-Star Reels Film less than 10 seconds. suggestion; insert clip directly before first feature when creating drive-in dvd Internet Archive Pavlov's Experiment: The Conditioned Reflex 1976 · Educational Uses a live dog in a laboratory in a re-creation of the famous experiments of Ivan Pavlov which show the relationship between a particular stimulus and… Internet Archive Voyager 2 : encounters Neptune and Triton, August 24/25, 1989. 1989 · Film Virtually all that is known of Neptune and its moon, Triton, was captured by the Voyager's mission. Highlights of Voyager 2's information gathering on the… Internet Archive Operation Teapot - Turk 28112 2017 · Film Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYbNlgQyz84 Uploader: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Upload date: 2017-03-15 Internet Archive Friendship 7 1962 · Film This 58-minute movie depicts events of the day when astronaut John Glenn orbited the Earth three times. It documents Project Mercury and offers a look at the… Internet Archive World War II: Prologue, U.S.A. 1956 · Educational Reviews the events that led the U.S. into World War II, showing the different stages of public opinion as events in Europe took place. Follows the conflict… Internet Archive Sami Herders 1978 · Educational Title from data sheet Producer, Bill Brind; direction and photography, Hubert Schuurman; editing, Marion Meadows Traces the life, over a 12-month period, of… Internet Archive The Art Director 1951 · Educational · 7 min The Art Director SummaryShows how moving picture ./ia metadata theartdirecstructed and indicates the research necessary to make them authentic. Presents Marie… Internet Archive Insects Astray Short · 25 min Depicts the webbing clothes moth from egg to adulthood. Closeups show moth grub severing wool fibers. Describes colorless chemical compound which renders wool… Internet Archive Is There Communication When You Speak? 1958 · Educational · 18 min Is There Communication When You Speak? SummaryShows the process of communicating an idea to an audience. Makes clear how a speaker's voice, pronunciation,… Internet Archive Shakespeare: Soul of an Age 1963 · Educational · 51 min Narrator, Ralph Richardson Pictures various landmarks which were significant in the life of William Shakespeare and which invoke the atmosphere of the age of… Internet Archive The Steps of Age 1950 · Film Training film for mental health workers that explores the strain of retirement and old age. When a 62-year-old woman is forced to retire, both she and her… Internet Archive Foods And Nutrition 1940 · Film PRESENTS A STUDY OF THE METABOLIC PROCESSES SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF CARBOHYDRATES, FATS, PROTEINS, MINERALS & VITAMINS THROUGH THE BODY. We digitized and… Internet Archive China's industrial revolution 1967 · Educational · 14 min Intended audience:Junior high school through adult Contrasts pre-1949, agrarian China with the industrially oriented regime of the 1960's. Surveys problems of… Internet Archive Young Women in Sports 1975 · Educational · 15 min With study guide Producers, Susan Heick, Jaryl Lane, Joseph Shields; music, Charles Bernstein Examines the attitudes of four young women athletes about… Internet Archive Body Of Work 1998 · Film "A powerfully inspirational film that chronicles the lives of ten individuals who transform themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually" --… Internet Archive Safety PSA Commercial Public service announcement for home safety by Prudential Insurance. To license this film and get a higher quality version for broadcast/film purposes,… Internet Archive Magic Coffee (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Magic Coffee (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :11 Sound: No Color Description: This color clip was stripped of the audio… Internet Archive A Car Is Born 1969 · Film Tells the story of the automobile, showing the manufacture of the parts of a car and the details of the assembly line. We digitized and uploaded this film… Internet Archive Steam Locomotives in Action on the Pennsylvania 1954 · Educational Looks at various types of steam locomotives in action near Horseshoe Curve, just west of Altoona, Pennsylvania, as photographed in 1951, 1952, and 1953. From… Internet Archive Tealia 1977 · Educational George Paul Csicsery; choreographer, John McFall Two dancers, suspended in black space, simulate the movements of the tealia, a coral-colored sea anemone… Internet Archive Liege-Bastogne-Liege & Fleche Wallonne: Armstrong Storms Ardenne 1996 · Film "American hero Lance Armstrong dominates the Ardennes landscape in this thrilling duo of Belgian classics."-- description from box. Internet Archive Chinese History: 1 -- The Beginnings 1976 · Educational Produced by Wan-go Weng Depicts the search for the origins of Chinese civilization (... to 1100 B.C.). The earliest inhabitants -- Lan-t'ien Man, Peking Man,… Internet Archive Ransom of Red Chief 1978 · Educational Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Spinell, Robbie Rist, Burton Gilliam, Sondra Blake Producer, Marion Rosenberg; director, Tony Bill; screenplay, Michael Kane;… Internet Archive America's Heroes 1995 · Film "America. We call her 'land of opportunity' and the 'home of the brave'. And those extraordinary individuals who have dedicated their lives to country, honor,… Internet Archive US Navy Blast Marshall Islands 1942 · Newsreel · 9 min This short newsreel, produced for the home market, shows the first offensive action of the Pacific War by the U.S. Navy: a raid on Makin Island in the… Internet Archive Anatomy of a Lie 1962 · Film Presents the background story and exposes the outrageous lies in the anti-labor national right-to-work committee film. This film can be purchased on DVD and… Internet Archive Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Facts, Part C 1975 · Film The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first human spaceflight mission conducted jointly by two nations. A Russian Soyuz launched on July 15, 1975,… Internet Archive The Philharmonic Gets Dressed 1986 · Educational Loosely based on the book by Karla Kuskin A behind-the-scenes glimpse of an orchestra and its members in rehearsal. The conductor, Sir Neville Marriner,… Internet Archive Intermission 2b (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Commercial Category: Drive-In Movie Ads Title: Intermission 2b (from Drive-In Movie Ads) Length- :35 Sound: Yes Color Description: Similar food footage of Intermission 2… Internet Archive Introduction to Work Sampling 1956 · Educational · 19 min Introduction to Work Sampling Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film The experiences of a young speech student… Internet Archive Picasso is 90 1971 · Educational · 46 min Filmed in 1971 on the occasion of Picasso's 90th birthday, this biography traces his life from childhood to old with a retrospective of his paintings and… Internet Archive Day after Day (1962) 1962 · Educational · 27 min Day after Day (1962) Covers events surrounding the Dec. 7, 1941 bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by the Japanese. Internet Archive Success: The Marva Collins Approach 1981 · Educational Title from data sheet Intended audience: Teachers and school counselors A documentary on the teaching methods used by Marva Collins in her West Side…