Educationals from the world's archives

1–48 of 22,185 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 Bacteria: Friend and Foe Educational · Subtitles Produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc., in collaboration with Stewart A. Koser, Ph.D, Department of Bacteriology and Parasitology, the University of… Internet Archive Cancer Educational · Subtitles Produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films, in collaboration with William B. Wartman, M.D., School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Producer: Warren P.… Internet Archive Child Went Forth, A 1942 · Educational · 19 min · Subtitles Poetic exposition of a child's day at a modern (progressive education-minded) summer camp. Produced by John Ferno and Joseph Losey. Internet Archive Children Must Learn, The 1940 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles Educating the children of Appalachia. Director: Willard Van Dyke. Script: Spencer Pollard. Photography: Bob Churchill. Narration: Myron McCormick. Editor:… Internet Archive Human birth. 1973 · Educational · 17 min · Subtitles Also issued as loop films in super 8 mm. on reel; in super 8 mm. in cartridge; in super 8 mm. on reel with magnetic sound; in super 8 mm. in cartridge with… Internet Archive Banks And Credits 1948 · Educational · Subtitles Coronet Instructional Films (a division of Esquire Inc.) presents Banks and Credit. Educational collaborator James Harvey Dodd, PhD., Professor of Economics… Internet Archive Making Films That Teach 1954 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles Made to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, this film shows the steps in the process of producing educational films, including… Internet Archive Practicing Democracy in the Classroom 1953 · Educational · 20 min · Subtitles Points out that democratic techniques are more effective in teaching good citizenship than laissez-faire and authoritarian methods. Internet Archive School Rules: How They Help Us 1953 · Educational · Subtitles Discusses rules and stresses the point that rules are ways of making life more pleasant, smooth and safe. SHOWS EVERYDAY SCENES IN WHICH RULES INFLUENCE OUR… Internet Archive Choosing a Classroom Film 1963 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles Illustrates the purposes of educational films and the standards by which to appraise them. Internet Archive Dropout, The (Part I) 1962 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles Uses case studies to show why teenagers drop out of high school. Explains that some have problems in school, need money, are socially isolated and wish to… Internet Archive Maintaining Classroom Discipline 1947 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles Good and bad methods of disciplining inappropriate classsroom behavior. Internet Archive Miss Clark Introduces Panorama 1960 · Educational · 10 min · Subtitles Promotional film for ÂPanorama, a filmstrip/phonograph record/book playback unit, demonstrating how this early multimedia device can be useful in teaching. Internet Archive Cities How They Grow 1952 · Educational · Subtitles Encyclopedia Britannica Films in collaboration with Robert S. Lynd, PhD, Columbia University. Internet Archive Let Us Break Bread Together (Part I) 1954 · Educational · 12 min · Subtitles How a New York City school district promoted racial integration and intergroup tolerance. Internet Archive Introduction to Holography 1972 · Educational · 16 min This film examines the process of holography, types of holograms, and the uses of the hologram for artistic and scientific purposes, as demonstrated by Tung… Internet Archive Frames of Reference 1960 · Educational · 26 min This PSSC film utilizes a fascinating set consisting of a rotating table and furniture occupying surprisingly unpredictable spots within the viewing area. The… Internet Archive The Horror of it all 1983 · Educational · 59 min · Subtitles Combines rare film clips, stills, and interviews in a chronicle of the fifty years of horror film production. Covers the early days of Nosferatu to today's… Internet Archive Dropout, The (Part II) 1962 · Educational · 14 min · Subtitles Uses case studies to show why teenagers drop out of high school. Explains that some have problems in school, need money, are socially isolated and wish to… Internet Archive Industrial Worker 1928 · Educational · Subtitles Silent film that looks at the educational path for a child who will eventually become an industrial worker. Internet Archive Useful Prophecies: An Archival Compilation 2019 · Educational · 1 h 5 min · Subtitles Useful Prophecies, an archival compilation made for the opening night of Punto De Vista Festival (Pamplona/Iruñea), March 11, 2019. While the distance between… Internet Archive Secure the Blessings 1951 · Educational · 23 min · Subtitles Shows how American schoolchildren are taught the value of democracy, freedom and good citizenship. Internet Archive Let Us Break Bread Together (Part II) 1954 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles How a New York City school district promoted racial integration and intergroup tolerance. Internet Archive Education for Excellence 1964 · Educational · Subtitles The film "Education for Excellence" highlights the educational programs for gifted children in New York City's public elementary schools. It showcases the… Internet Archive Labor comes of age 1969 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles Words of F.D.R. spoken by Charlton Heston ; narrator, Arthur Kennedy ; consultant, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt A Films Incorporated presentation An episode… Internet Archive Life Cycle of the Mosquito, The Educational · 11 min · Subtitles Distributed by Young America Films, Presented by Emerson Yorke Studios in New York City, with cooperation and contributions from the US Public Health Service,… Internet Archive Sudden Birth 1967 · Educational · 22 min This film was made to instruct police officers on the basics of childbirth and to show them an actual birth - mostly so they wouldn't panic or pass out when… Internet Archive Experiments in motion graphics 1968 · Educational · 11 min · Subtitles John H. Whitney explains the graphic art potential of the computer and the methods and philosophy involved in his computer film making. Search Educational… Internet Archive Unique Contribution, The (Part I) 1959 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles How educational films contribute to teaching and learning. With many examples taken from scientific and historical films. Internet Archive Niok 1960 · Educational · 29 min · Subtitles Niok Points out the world-wide importance of rice as a principal food and describes methods of growing it. Shows steps being taken to improve the quantity and… Internet Archive Precipitins 1930 · Educational · Subtitles Identification of human vs. animal blood, stains through chemical tests - scientists, labs, chemists, rabbits, experiments, blood, nurses, lab technicians,… Internet Archive Six American Families the Georges of New York 1977 · Educational · 54 min · Subtitles Six American Families the Georges of New York Summary Introduces a series of six television documentaries portraying the lives of American families of varied… Internet Archive Detroit's pattern of growth 1965 · Educational · 15 min · Subtitles Traces the various influences which have led to the present street patterns of metropolitan Detroit Internet Archive School House in the Red 1945 · Educational · Subtitles Educational film about the restructuring of public education, primarily the merging of smaller schoolhouses in rural areas into larger and improved schools. Internet Archive How to Use Classroom Films 1963 · Educational · 14 min · Subtitles How to choose, preview, present and discuss classroom films. Internet Archive Unique Contribution, The (Part II) 1959 · Educational · 13 min · Subtitles How educational films contribute to teaching and learning. With many examples taken from scientific and historical films. Internet Archive The Flow of Zen 1969 · Educational · 14 min · Subtitles Discusses the philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Shows how Buddhist chants synchronized with striking psychedelic pictures, turn the mind inward and induce a state… Internet Archive Junior High School 1978 · Educational A musical comedy about a young student who is trying to woo the most popular girl in the school Internet Archive Partners in Progress 1954 · Educational · 18 min · Subtitles The Atlanta Board of Education presents Partners in Progress, produced by Charles O. Beeland Productions, Atlanta. 0738 PA9045 Partners in Progress 16 Koda… Internet Archive Harry 1980 · Educational · 40 min Search Educational Film Journals at Media History Project for references to this film Host Abba Eban explores the history of the Jews in America from colonial… Internet Archive Art in San Francisco 1942 · Educational · Subtitles Surveys the art scene in San Francisco in the early years of World War II. Includes scenes of the Montgomery Block and its art studios; scenes of… Internet Archive Nai: The Story of a !Kung Woman 1980 · Educational · 58 min VHS Footage accumulated by John Marshall over a thirty-year period documents the life of a !Kung woman from childhood to middle age and shows how her life… Internet Archive View From Space 1969 · Educational · 49 min · Subtitles View From Space A graphic insight into the world of space photography. Includes footage showing the physical aspects of the earth and explains how man has… Internet Archive Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945 1969 · Educational · 15 min · Subtitles Harvard Film Archive, projection print somewhat scratched, HFA Item no: 9675. From The Amos Vogel Annenberg School of Communications Collection Running time… Internet Archive Negro Colleges in Wartime 1943 · Educational · Subtitles Content warning: the title of this film and the writing about it quoted below include an outdated term for historically Black colleges and universities.… Internet Archive Mao Tse Tung 1963 · Educational · 25 min Mao Tse Tung Introduces secondary school students to the career of Marco Polo, showing how he, as a lad of 17, set out from Venice for the empire of the… Internet Archive Hangman 1964 · Educational A parable about the consequences of being a bystander to evil, from a disturbing poem by Maurice Ogden, read by Herschel Bernardi. Shadows and shifting… Internet Archive Iran 1971 · Educational · 18 min Far more than a travelogue with pretty pictures, this little-known film won six international awards shortly after its release. 'Iran' consists of spectacular…