Documentary from the world's archives

241–288 of 6,384 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 Flying The P-39 1943 · Short · 23 min Training film demonstrating techniques for piloting the P-39 Airacobra pursuit plane, including aerobatics and strafing. Internet Archive Häxan 1929 · Feature Internet Archive The Pacemakers - Basil Spence 1965 · TV · 13 min · Subtitles A series produced in Britain for international distribution. This episode features an interview with architect Sir Basil Spence. I'm not sure when this was… Internet Archive Normandy Invasion 1945 · Short · 20 min AKA D-Day: The Normandy Invasion tells the story of the U.S Coast Guard doring operation Overlord Internet Archive Alaskan Eskimo 1953 · Educational Short documentary film produced by Walt Disney. It won an Academy Award at the 26th Academy Awards in 1954 for Documentary Short Subject. Describes the daily… Internet Archive Buster Keaton:The Genius Destroyed By Hollywood Feature A spotlight on the 7 years during which his life changed, using extracts of Keaton’s films as magnifying mirrors, the film recounts the dramatic life of this… Internet Archive 24´s Get Back 1944 · Short · 17 min This training film demonstrates specific techniques for landing B-24 Liberators that have sustained a wide variety of damage in differing conditions,… Internet Archive The Farm (documentary) Documentary A 47-minute documentary about San Francisco's "The Farm," which was a remarkable urban laboratory and creative space, in addition to being a farm with… Internet Archive Concorde - The 24 Hour World 1973 · TV A British documentary on the Concorde aircraft. This short was produced solely for overseas broadcast by the London Television Service, which was part of the… Internet Archive Moana (restored, colorized) (1926, documentary, imdb score: 6.8) Feature Moana is a 1926 American silent documentary film , or more strictly a work of docufiction , which was directed by Robert J. Flaherty , creator of Nanook of… Internet Archive Uncle Sam's Siberians: A Documentary Film of the North in Summer Documentary · Subtitles A number of interesting shots to log. St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. "Its Eskimo people are nationals of the United States, but by blood, culture and… Internet Archive Survival of a small city [videorecording] : a new documentary on urban renewal 1987 · Educational · 1 h 6 min Studies the ecological history of the American grasslands, describing the destruction of the grasslands by man and the present-day realization that the land… Internet Archive Primitive Love 1927 · Feature Internet Archive BEATLEPHONE ~ Beatles Fans Talk About The Beatles Anthology TV Documentary 2022 · Cartoon Boston Beatles fan Joe Pope published his first edition of his Beatles' fan magazine, Strawberry Fields Forever, in 1972, and continued publishing monthly… Internet Archive The River by Pare Lorentz Short This short Depression-era documentary describes the importance of the Mississippi River to the United States. It laments the environmental destruction… Internet Archive The spectacular construction of the Dutch Afsluitdijk in 1929 in color! [AI enhanced & colorized] 1932 · Feature The "Afsluitdijk" is part of the Zuiderzee Works in The Netherlands and part of an elaborate plan in the early part of the 20th century to protect The… Internet Archive Managing the Micro - S01E03 - Towards the Last Frontier 1981 · TV Managing the Micro - Season 1 Episode 3 Video Size: 1024x576 Length: 24:35 This series aimed primarily at small businesses and further education colleges was… Internet Archive The KGB Connections - Documentary - 1982 TV The KGB Connections - Documentary - 1982 Video Size: 708x480 Length: 1:00:13 - The KGB Connections - Part 1 of 2.mkv Length: 1:10:30 - The KGB Connections -… Internet Archive Biography Channel. Meatloaf 2001 · Feature An episode aired on the Biography Channel, detailing the rise and fame of singer Meatloaf. Internet Archive Inflation 1928 · Feature Internet Archive Herod's Lost Tomb 2008 · Feature National Geographic follows archaeologist Ehud Natzer in his discovery of the tomb of Herod the Great. Internet Archive The Secret Life of Ice 2011 · Feature Ice is one of the strangest, most beguiling and mesmerising substances in the world. Full of contradictions, it is transparent yet it can glow with colour, it… Internet Archive Uncle Sam's Siberians: A Documentary Film of the North in Summer Documentary · Subtitles A number of interesting shots to log. St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. "Its Eskimo people are nationals of the United States, but by blood, culture and… Internet Archive Managing the Micro - S01E01 - Thinking Small 1981 · TV Managing the Micro - Season 1 Episode 1 Video Size: 1024x576 Length: 24:46 This series aimed primarily at small businesses and further education colleges was… Internet Archive 06 Life On Air ( 2002) 2002 · Feature This documentary traces the extraordinary television career of the legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough, a BBC staple and one of the most respected… Internet Archive Egypt Unwrapped 2008 · Feature A doco series on Egypt. Internet Archive Bloodspell Filming Documentary 2006 · Cartoon · 7 min This documentary gives a brief overview of the filming of bloodspell with contributions from the film crew. Also covered is custom animation and lipsynching. Internet Archive Life 2009 · Feature A global view of the specialized strategies and extreme behavior that living things have developed in order to survive; what Charles Darwin termed "the… Internet Archive Sweet Misery A Poisoned World 2004 · Feature Narrator Cori Brackett had a strange cause-and-effect experience with the diet cokes she was drinking and quickly found herself disabled and diagnosed with… Internet Archive Two Down and One to Go 1945 · Short · 10 min Documentary short film produced by the U.S. Army, intended to enlighten the American public on the final thrust of the Allied war effort in Europe and on the… Internet Archive Managing the Micro - S01E05 - The Human Factor 1981 · TV Managing the Micro - Season 1 Episode 5 Video Size: 1024x576 Length: 24:27 This series aimed primarily at small businesses and further education colleges was… Internet Archive The Other Side Of Burqa Az Pase Borghe ( 2004) Documentary Feature Title: The Other Side of Burka - Az pase borghe (2004) Directed by: Mehrdad Oskouei Date of birth: 12 September 1969 Teheran, Iran Writing credits: Mehrdad… Internet Archive Twenty-Four-Dollar Island 1928 · Feature Internet Archive The Undefeated 1949 · Short · 33 min Moving but upbeat BAFTA award winning documentary film short about the men and women who were disabled during the two World Wars. IMDB Page:… Internet Archive Nature - 8-20: Serpents 1990 · TV Episode 20 of season 8 of documentary series "Nature" : "Serpents" (Note: This episode aired in 1990, so the information conveyed here may be out of date or… Internet Archive Furries & The Ethics of Cringe Culture 2022 · Short Original: https://youtu.be/h3QLFHvcSVE https://web.archive.org/web/20221001074129/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3QLFHvcSVE The description says: For 65%… Internet Archive The Heart of the Dragon: 1 -- Remembering 1983 · Educational · 54 min Documentary Anthony Quayle This program uses both original footage and archive material to present a broad overview of historic and modern China that serves… Internet Archive Brian Henderson's Bandstand - 12 October 1968 1968 · TV · 53 min An episode of an Australian television pop music series. This episode departs from the usual format of the show to present a documentary showing a train tour… Internet Archive Ten Super-Heroines Before Wonder Woman 2021 · Short The description says: Wonder Woman is a pop culture icon. Here is a brief telling of her creation and the story of ten super-heroines who predate her. Internet Archive The Olympic Games, Amsterdam 1928 1928 · Feature Internet Archive Managing the Micro - S01E04 - On Line 1981 · TV Managing the Micro - Season 1 Episode 4 Video Size: 1024x576 Length: 24:08 This series aimed primarily at small businesses and further education colleges was… Internet Archive Dateline Britain - Look At London 1959 · TV · 28 min An episode of a 1959 documentary series produced in Britain for broadcast in Canada. Hosted by Bernard Braden. Among other things it features an interview… Internet Archive Into The Fire 2011 · Feature A documentary film about the G20 summit that took place in Toronto, Canada in the summer of 2010. The results of which lead to the arrests of over 1100 people… Internet Archive Collecting And Reporting Enemy Information by Fighter Pilots 1942 · Short · 17 min This rare early war training films features P-39 "the 181st Squadron" carrying out a complete mission, with an emphasis on briefing sessions, gathering… Internet Archive " THE DECISION TO DROP THE BOMB " 1965 DOCUMENTARY w/ CHET HUNTLEY HIROSHIMA ATOMIC BOMB 90984 Documentary Dating to 1965, this documentary film "The Decision to Drop the Bomb" takes a look at the most difficult decision in President Harry Truman's term in office:… Internet Archive " THE GREAT WAR " 1956 WORLD WAR 1 DOCUMENTARY FILM WWI 1914-1918 29554 Documentary This 1956 film about World War I was produced by NBC as part of the "Project Twenty" series. The music was written by Robert Russell Bennett and narrated by… Internet Archive 3 ARTISTAS QUE LO PERDIERON TODO PERSIGUIENDO SUS SUEÑOS | La historia de Oveja, Ocio y Kalcifer 2022 · Short Original: https://youtu.be/M2Q7hPC3vtc La descripción decia: Descarga Project Z registrandote con el CODIGO: FAIRCR Descarglo en la Playstore:… Internet Archive Fortress Of The Sky 1944 · Short · 23 min This documentary chronicles the design and development of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.