Documentary from the world's archives

289–336 of 6,888 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 The First SALT talks. 1978 · Educational · 25 min · Subtitles A chronicle of events between the end of World War I and Pearl Harbor, the film depicts the world's first major disarmament conference to limit the post-war… Internet Archive Managing the Micro - S01E02 - Getting in on the Act 1981 · TV Managing the Micro - Season 1 Episode 2 Video Size: 1024x576 Length: 24:23 This series aimed primarily at small businesses and further education colleges was… Internet Archive Robert Conrad - The Wild Wild West mini-documentary Short · 9 min Seen only once in the '90s, ads and host segments for a Wild Wild West marathon. Conrad shares some insights on the classic '60s series. (In 1989 I saw him… Internet Archive At the Front in North Africa with the US Army 1943 · Short · 41 min Rare colour film about the war in North Africa after the American landed in 1942. It describes the campaign to capture Tunisia by the Americans under General… Internet Archive The First SALT talks. 1978 · Educational · 25 min · Subtitles A chronicle of events between the end of World War I and Pearl Harbor, the film depicts the world's first major disarmament conference to limit the post-war… Internet Archive The Menace of Guatemala Short · 8 min Documentary featurette Internet Archive Five Cities Of June 1963 · Short · 27 min National Archives description: "This film highlights five important worldwide historical events which occurred in June 1963 and had far - reaching… Internet Archive Happy Birthday Mr Bean (2021 ITV Documentary) 2021 · Cartoon A celebratory documentary looking back at the 30 years since comedy legend Mr Bean landed on our screens. This documentary explores the magic behind this… Internet Archive Film 29 1927 · Feature Internet Archive Inquiry: The Great British Housing Disaster 1984 · TV The 1984 BBC documentary by Adam Curtis that investigates the origins of the 1960 council housing crisis. Internet Archive NOVA- Interferon (S8E5, AKA The Big If) 2020 · TV This 1980 episode of the PBS long-runner examines the possible wonder drug and examines if it can make cancers curable. Internet Archive I-Witness - Multo Ng Nakaraan 2005 · TV "More than 20 years of dictatorship and censorship in the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos left many a mystery. "Ghost of the Past lifts the veil on one of… Internet Archive Exhibition Reel of Two Color Film 1929 · Feature A demonstration of the Brewster Color subtractive two-color process. Internet Archive NOVA (S11E9, Twenty Five Years In Space) 2019 · TV To celebrate 25 years of NASA, this 1983 episode of NOVA takes a retrospective of the journey into outer space, from Sputnik to the first lunar landing, to… Internet Archive Hymn Of The Nations 1944 Feature Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations, is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the Inno delle… Internet Archive Film 25 1927 · Feature Internet Archive To Live Until You Die: The Work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 1983 · Educational Biographical documentary Title from data sheet Narrator: Wendy Sakakeeny Film editor, Peter Evans ; cameramen, Louis Wolfers, Barry Ackroyd ; narration… Internet Archive Introduction to the P-39 1942 · Short · 37 min Training film for military pilots of the Bell P-39 Airacobra pursuit aircraft, examining flight techniques, cockpit layout, and armament. Internet Archive The Story of the Fourteenth Air Force 1945 · Short · 39 min This Documentary shows the story of the Fourteenth Air Force (Flying Tigers) during World War 2 in China Internet Archive Shag (1985 documentary on the 1930s-50s dance fad) 2022 · TV Popularized in the southeastern US, here is a classic documentary on this dance craze that was seen as a more laid back version of the jitterbug and boogie… Internet Archive CHINA IN THE 1960s FOOTAGE (SILENT) CHAIRMAN MAO GREAT LEAP FORWARD CULTURAL REVOLUTION 79924 Documentary This silent reel of documentary footage shows The People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1960s, illustrating the era of Chairman Mao Zedong’s reign of power… Internet Archive À Propos de Nice 1930 · Feature Internet Archive Ancient Code: Are You Ready for the Real 2012? 2009 · Feature Some say the end of mankind is near. Some say that financial turmoil is part of the process, along with global warming, warfare and the spread of mass… Internet Archive The Air Force Story 1953 · Short · 15 min This thirty-two chapter series tracing Air Force history from World War I to the late 1950s. TO BE CONTINUED! Internet Archive 1925 ETHNOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILM " GRASS " MIGRATION OF BAKHTIARI TRIBE OF PERSIA / IRAN XD13934 Documentary Dating to 1925, this silent film "Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life" is one of the earliest ethnographic documentary films ever made. This version runs 57… Internet Archive 07 The Amber Time Machine ( 2004) 2004 · Feature Strand of documentaries on wildlife and the environment. Internet Archive Picasso: A Painter's Diary, 2 -- From Cubism to Guernica 1980 · Educational Producer-director, Perry Miller Adato; writer, Jean-Claude van Itallie; editor, Eugene Marner The personal and professional life of Pablo Picasso, shown… Internet Archive Vivere la diversità 2010 · Short This video describes an educational project made in an Italian Elementary School, with 9y old pupils. The project addressed differences in physical appearance… Internet Archive 'Wonderland of California' (c1933) Short Some unrelated scenes combined into a short film, probably to demonstrate the "Cinecolor" process. One scene depicts "The Marx Brothers" during shooting of… Internet Archive New Orleans: The Big Easy 1985 · Educational A scenic and historical tour of New Orleans, seen through the eyes of its people; includes famous writers who wrote about the city, a contemporary artist,… Internet Archive The Fight for the Sky 1945 · Short · 20 min Documentary detailing the activities of American fighter escort pilots during bombing raids over Germany. Narrated by Ronald Reagan Internet Archive The American Experience: Hearts And Hands (S1E12) 2023 · TV Here is an episode of The American Experience from December 1988, the PBS history series hosted by David McCullough involving cultural and societal life. In… Internet Archive 1950s CHINESE CIVIL WAR DOCUMENTARY MAO ZEDONG VS. CHIANG KAI-SHEK KMT VS CCP ARMY 88614 Documentary Hosted by Walter Cronkite, this fragmentary 1950s documentary is about the Chinese Civil War, between the Chinese Nationalist party – the Guomingdang (KMT)… Internet Archive The Making of 'They're A Weird Mob' 1966 · TV · 54 min An Australian TV documentary about the making of the 1966 feature film 'They're a Weird Mob'. Note: the Australian film industry, which thrived during the… Internet Archive Negro Pilots 1943 · Short · 7 min Tuskegee — At a dusty, booming airdrome in the Southeast Air Forces Training Center, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, world’s first Negro aerial fighting unit, is… Internet Archive La zone 1928 · Feature Internet Archive THE SECRET LAND OPERATION HIGHJUMP U.S. NAVY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1946 ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD (on two reels) 24972 Documentary The Secret Land is a 1948 American documentary film about an American expedition code-named "Operation High Jump" to explore Antarctica. It won the Academy… Internet Archive Sonic Outlaws Documental Negativland Intro 2015 · Documentary A short movie clip from Craig Baldwin's film Sonic Outlaws. Used by permission and courtesy of Craig Baldwin. Internet Archive Action at Anguar 1945 · Short · 28 min Action at Anguar tells the story of the invasion and capture of Anguar Island by the US 81st Infantry Division in September 1944 Internet Archive Smithsonian World - American Dream at Groton 1988 · TV Episode of documentary tv series "Smithsonian World" : "American Dream at Groton". Internet Archive A-Tish-Oo! 1941 · Documentary · 5 min A 1941 British film about how coughs and sneezes spread diseases. Some masks that can be worn to help stop the spread of diseases are shown. Produced by… Internet Archive Mechanics of the Brain 1928 · Feature Internet Archive Gow the Head Hunter 1928 · Feature Internet Archive Transatlantic Teleview - Man On The Beat [incomplete] 1956 · TV · 6 min The surviving footage from an otherwise lost 1956 episode of "Transatlantic Teleview", a television series produced by Britain's Central Office of Information… Internet Archive Communist Propaganda Short · 42 min An overview of soviet and communist block propaganda in the early '50s. Examples of hamfisted Russian film propaganda make it more amusing than most US… 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 National Geographic North Branch Correctional Facility 2005 · Feature To be completed by 2007, Maryland's North Branch Correctional Institution will be one of the world's most hi-tech prisons. The design and construction of the… 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.