Documentary from the world's archives
1,345–1,392 of 6,614 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 Ones | Films for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool. |
|---|---|
| Kids | Cartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature. |
| Tweens | Documentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures. |
| Teens | Everything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower. |
| Adult | Sexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage. |
Internet Archive
Whatever Happened To The Dinosaurs? (1992)
VHS rip of dinosaur documentary Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs? , featuring various paleontologists. Description Cleaning up a weird scientist's messy…
Internet Archive
FROM D-DAY TO VICTORY IN EUROPE (1985)
DESCRIPTION FROM VHS BACK COVER Written and narrated by MAX HASTINGS, author of "Battle for the Falklands", "Overlord" and "Bomber Command". May 8, 1945 was a…
Internet Archive
NHK Empress Michiko Special 1999 December
Digitized from a VHS recording from December 1999. A multi-hour television special about Empress Michiko. Includes TV ads from the broadcast.
Internet Archive
Andrea Bocelli: A Life in Music (SBS, 1999)
Part 1 of Andrea Bocelli: A Life in Music, a documentary on Andrea Bocelli aired on SBS in 1999 (judging by the copyright on the subtitles). I can't find much…
Internet Archive
American Justice- March 16, 1994 (Juvenile Justice)
Hosted by Bill Kurtis, here's a classic episode of A&E's crime & punishment-focused documentary series. This episode begins with Craig Price, whose 1989…
Internet Archive
VHS Tape - 2008-03-02 - Discovery Channel - Human Body Pushing the Limits
VHS Tape - 2008-03-02 - Discovery Channel - Human Body Pushing the Limits Without Commercials Video Size: 720x480 Length: 2:03:00 Framerate: 60fps This VHS…
Internet Archive
Rockets! History Channel Documentary [VHS Rip]
A VHS Rip of the History Channel documentary "Rockets!" This documentary comes in two parts, First Step to the Stars and The Vengeance Weapons. Recorded using…
Internet Archive
America's Historic Steam Railways: Grand Canyon Railway & California Western Railroad VHS
Since their invention, railroads have captured the imagination of people of all ages and played a pivotal role in the industrial development of our world.…
Internet Archive
Homeless City- Filmic Walk | New York Walk Year-2026
Homeless City — New York City — July 28, 2026 This continuous filmic walk documents New York City on July 28, 2026. The work observes the city itself: its…
Internet Archive
From Star Wars to Jedi - The Making of a Saga
From Star Wars to Jedi - The Making of a Saga (The CBS-FOX Company)(1989)
Internet Archive
Andrew Wyeth: The Helga Pictures (1987) [VHS]
Youtube upload: https://youtu.be/yVYaKL-oOlk Host: Charlton Heston © 1987 Videodisc Publishing, Inc. Info about this here: www.tfaoi.org/aa/7aa/7aa130b.htm…
Internet Archive
Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century (1993 TV Series, Granada Television)
Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century is a British documentary television series first produced by Granada Television in 1993. Narrated by Robert…
Internet Archive
[Vintage VHS] Nova: The Miracle of Life
Transferred from tape using the RF method. Videos processed with vhs-decode and hifi-decode. See: https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode File types included…
Internet Archive
Reconstructing Evil - Touch Of Evil Documentary (1999)
1999 documentary looking at the making and restoration of Orson Welle's crime film Touch Of Evil (958).
Internet Archive
TODAY'S EMD DIESELS
[Front] TRAINS MAGAZINE presents TODAY'S EMD DIESELS [Back] Discover the beauty and power of America's most famous locomotive builder From 1922 to today, EMD…
Internet Archive
African Wildlife Montage with Vivaldi - Documentary Segment PBS/WNET 13 1987-08-16
The clip appears to be a segment from a wildlife documentary featuring various African animals such as lions, cheetahs, giraffes, and antelopes in their…
Internet Archive
Oliver Cromwell: God's Englishman (1994) (PAL VHS)
My Great Aunt recently passed and she left me her collection of videotapes to digitise and upload here so, yeah. Recorded using the Windows 10 camera app.
Internet Archive
Yellowstone Realm Of The Coyote
World's Last Great Places - Yellowstone : Realm Of The Coyote Danger in Yellowstone for a young, outcast Coyote! When a young coyote is cast out by his pack,…
Internet Archive
1937: A Year To Remember (1990) (PAL VHS)
My Great Aunt recently passed and she left me her collection of videotapes to digitise and upload here so, yeah. Recorded using the Windows 10 camera app.
Internet Archive
Fleetwood Mac - 1977 - The Rosebud Film
Fleetwood Mac - 1977 - The Rosebud Film
Internet Archive
'Secrets Of WW 2 Cracking The Enigma Code' (Full 1998 VHS Tape Documentary)
"Secrets Of WWII: Cracking The Enigma Codes," provides an in-depth look into the military and war aspects of World War II. The documentary covers the…
Internet Archive
The ABC's Of ADD (1994)
This video discusses different aspects of Attention Deficit Disorder - diagnosis, treatment and especially the youths affected with this disorder.
Internet Archive
Penguins ★ Double Feature Nature DVD - with MKV
Penguins ★ Double Feature Nature DVD - with MKV . _ . I found the original DVD source materials here: https://archive.org/details/NatureISO I am grateful to…
Internet Archive
Making of Forrest Gump - AVH - 1994
Corto documental que repasa la trama de la película Forrest Gump, así como también la forma en la que se filmaron algunas escenas.
Internet Archive
Rollermania! (1980) Full Documentary
http://thedukemitchell.uk/ for strange film nights in London. Here's the complete Rollermania! documentary from 1980, directed by William Webb, featuring…
Internet Archive
Discovery Channel Documentary On Korubu Indians of Brazil (2000)
A partial recording of a Discovery Channel documentary on Korubu Indians of Brazil recorded to VHS in the year 2000. This was software decoded using the…
Internet Archive
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Making of The Coming Out Of Their Shells Tour (VHS)
original VHS copy of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Making of The Coming Out Of Their Shells Tour" (1990)
Internet Archive
Quentin Tarantino - Hollywood's Boy Wonder (1994) BBC Omnibus Documentary
BBC documentary series Omnibus takes an in-depth look at director Quentin Tarantino post Reservoir Dogs and during the making of Pulp Fiction. Quentin…
Internet Archive
NOVA - S12E07 - The Shape of Things (Laserdisc transfer)
I'm excited to share my first official Laserdisc transfer, created using RF capture and LD Decode! For this inaugural project, I chose to transfer an episode…
Internet Archive
VHS Tape - PBS Digital - American Masters - Woody Guthrie - Ain't Got No Heart
VHS Tape - PBS Digital - American Masters - Woody Guthrie - Ain't Got No Heart With Commercials Video Size: 720x480 Length: 1:25:34 Audio synch issues This…
Internet Archive
Standing in the Shadows of Motown VHS (04-22-03) (USA)
Documentary on a Detroit band named the Funk Brothers, who played on every major hit that Motown Records scored during the 1960s. Artisan Entertainment #13779
Internet Archive
THE CURE segment from Glastonbury documentary - BBC 2 × June 2022
Language: English Original Broadcast Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 2022-06-19 Program Name: Glastonbury: 50 Years and Counting Network: BBC 2 (GB) Media Type: Television…
Internet Archive
Way Of The Whitetail (1985)
Title: Way of the Whitetail Year: 1985 Source: VHS Description: "Way of the Whitetail" is an in-depth exploration of the fascinating world of the white-tailed…
Internet Archive
The Year In Sports: 1994 (1994)
Title: The Year in Sports: 1994 Year: 1994 Source: VHS Description: The Year in Sports: 1994 is a comprehensive look back at one of the most dramatic and…
Internet Archive
Clint Eastwood - Out Of The West (2000) Full Documentary
Part One of a two part in-depth documentary looking at the life and work of actor/director Clint Eastwood, from the year 2000.
Internet Archive
Alaska - An Hour Video Tour Of The Inside Passage - 1996
VHS Rip, 1996, Colour, 58m. From the back of the box: This is Alaska. An hour video tour that captures the magnificent Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska.…
Internet Archive
Benny Hill The World's Favourite Clown (1992 UK VHS)
This is the Full VHS Tape of Benny Hill The World's Favourite Clown as it was Released in 1992! Enjoy! NOTE: This is the 600th Upload on this one!
Internet Archive
Depeche Mode - 101 (Music For The Masses Tour) Full VHS Rip
DV capture of the VHS tape Depeche Mode 101, featuring documentary and concert footage from the 1988 Music For The Masses tour.
Internet Archive
Becoming American: The Chinese Experience - Between Two Worlds [Program Two] (2003) [VHS]
YouTube upload: https://youtu.be/bHgwUX9VkXs This is Program Two of Four. Program One is here: https://youtu.be/LWJ4um9QhqI Program Four is here:…
Internet Archive
Remembering Chicago & World War II (WTTW, 1997)
Remembering Chicago & World War II (WTTW Chicago, 1997) Running Time: 1 Hour, 9 Minutes Remembering Chicago & World War II A Bittersweet Look at an…
Internet Archive
Sir Stanley Matthews: Football's First Superstar (2000) (PAL VHS)
My Great Aunt recently passed and she left me her collection of videotapes to digitise and upload here so, yeah. Recorded using the Windows 10 camera app.
Internet Archive
Christian Families of Palestine - The Middle East Council of Churches (1993) [VHS]
YouTube upload: https://youtu.be/ZyzP-fyUHXQ PART 1 - THE ARRANKEH FAMILY PART 2 - THE MUSLEH FAMILY ----------------------------------------------------------…
Internet Archive
David Attenborough's Animal of the British Country Side (1990)
Continuing my quest to collect and preserve everything David Attenborough, I present you Animals of the British Countryside - Land Mammals, which is my first…
Internet Archive
Q.E.D. - The True Story Of Joseph Merrick - The Elephant Man - May 27th, 1997 - MP4
Q.E.D. - The True Story Of Joseph Merrick - The Elephant Man - May 27th, 1997 - MP4 Video Size: 720x540 Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum, Latin for "that which…
Internet Archive
The War Game (1966 TV Docu-Drama)
A TV drama documentary from 1966, detailing a nuclear attack on Britain that was so controversial at the time that is was blocked by Harold Wilson's Labour…
Internet Archive
DAYS OF STEAM
[Front] FROM THE BELBIN ARCHIVES DAYS OF STEAM Authentic workings on New South Wales Railways 1949-1970 [Back] Steam trains are a lifelong interest to many…
Internet Archive
A Current Affair (October 17, 1988)
The first of two installments of the women of John Lennon is featured in this edition of A Current Affair.
Internet Archive
DVD-6677 - Shakin' All Over - January 30, 2006
Recorded By: Mister T. Collection: The Mister T. DVD Collection Medium Type: DVD Uploaded Format: DVD ISO DVD-6677 - Shakin' All Over - January 30, 2006…