Films Eligible for Uploads

So you'd like to assist us in uploading films for free access on the Internet Archive? Your donation can make this happen. To nominate a film, visit our AFA chronological Film Show pages and pick a film, or easier still, pick from the list below, of favorite films from the past that are already eligible. Choose below from the following categories:

- Animated
- Art & Avant-Garde
- Business, Education, & Industry
- Documentaries
- Dramatic
- Ethnographic (African, American Indian, Latino, Middle East)
- Music & Dance
- Science

Please read our Caveat at the bottom of this page regarding condition and availability. View the films that have already been digitized and uploaded.

Animated Films

'High Blood Pressure: a Game of Chance' 1978, 10m, dir. Sid Milstein. Almost entire film is Philip Stapp's animation, with an exit piece by Dr. Harriet Dustan, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic.

'High Blood Pressure: If Only It Hurt a Little' (1978) 25m, dir. Sid Milstein. Uses animation by Philip Stapp and two and mimes (Claude Kipnis & Rita Nachtman) to describe high blood pressure and tell how it can be treated. Neat history of study of blood and pressure, stethoscope, etc., with music by Oscar Brand.

'High Blood Pressure: What it Is, What it Can Do to You' (1979) 10m, dir. Sid Milstein. Wonderful animated sequences by Philip Stapp highlight this short film.

'High Blood Pressure: What you Can Do About It' (1978) 15m, dir. Sid Milstein. Almost the entire film consists of Philip Stapp's animation, with an exit piece by Dr. Harriet Dustan, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic.

'Trip to the Moon' (1958) 14m, dir. Karl Stanzl. Children of the late 1950s were fascinated by space travel. In 1956 or 1957, An international art contest was launched, open to children of six to fifteen from the United States, Austria, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and Russia. The subject? Space travel. This film showcases many of the winners, a fanciful, charming film illustrating what a trip to the moon entailed for a generation filled with optimism for the future.

Art & Avant-Garde Films

‘Antonio Gaudí’ (1965) 30m, prod. Ira Latour. This film, in beautiful color, is a tribute to the work of the Catalan architect Gaudi, featuring many of his buildings, and Parc Guell as well. LaTour has written a wonderful narrative on the making of this historical film, at www.iralatour.com/writings.cfm?action=show&id=9

‘Creation: Artist at Work’ (1969) 15m, uncredited director. Shows prize-winning Hungarian glass designer Erzsébet Szabó creating a large glass vase from its conception on paper through many trials to the form that finally pleases her. Wonderful experimental musical score by an uncredited composer-musician. We become involved in the process of creation as she guides and encourages her two skilled assistants wh o blow and press the glass into shape.

Business, Education, Industry, Nature & Science

'Airplane Trip by Jet, An' (1961) 11m, prod. Milan Herzog. Here, two children climb aboard a United Airlines DC-8 and fly from SFO to NYC's Idlewild Airport. This film hearkens back to the day when air travel was still charming. The children get taken care of very well by the stewardess, oxygen bags are kept in back of seats, which are big and have lots of legroom in what appears to be Coach class. The film shows the airports and airline personnel of the era. The DC-8's maiden commercial flight was made in 1959. Of the 556 DC-8s produced, only 17 were till flying as of 2014.

'Extending Students' Thinking' (1976) 30m, uncredited director. In this classic of pedagogical film, UCLA's Dr. Madeline Hunter here explains Bloom's Taxonomy to instructional aides in one of the twelve films in the 'Aide-ing in Education' series. Shows the usefulness of this taxonomy through many practical examples of real classroom episodes. Exemplifies each step of Bloom's process by questioning the students appropriately. Described are Information>Comprehension>Application>Analysis>Synthesis>Evaluation. Stories used are 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and a story by William Saroyan. The unnamed aide wears a very short miniskirt while seated and reading to children, reflective of the era. Madeline Cheek Hunter was one of the more influential educational theorists of the 20th century. This film underscores why.

'IBM 3650' (1974) 30m, dir. Phil Coulter). A marketing film produced for for IBM , the film shows the IBM 3650 Retail Store System, which was one of the first fully integrated, bar code based, sales and inventory systems. Several large components were part of the complete package, including tag printers, readers and mass storage.

Ornithology Special: We have a number of short bird films by directors such as Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr., Murl Deusing, and Dan Gibson. Contact us for the bird(s) of your choice, and we'll recommend a film that is appropriate.

Documentaries

'Let Them Come with Rain' (1975), 20m, dir. Martin Bunnell. With an adult literacy rate of 83% and a strong economy, Botswana is an African success story. But it wasn't always like that. This landmark United Nations films shows how early steps were taken to evolve the country into what it is today. Partly ethnographic, the filmshows a traditional country wedding. It also features historical figures such as President Sir Seretse Khama, VP Quett Masire, Minister of Economy Quill Herman, and Swaneng Hill School founder and principal Patrick van Rensburg.

'VD' (1972) 26m. dir. Richard Leacock. Presents interviews with actual patients and physicians in which symptoms and treatment are explained to dispel much of the mystery surrounding venereal diseases. Shows Project Venus, a teen-run hotline in Philadelphia, and other clinics, including one in Boulder, CO, and actual examinations. According to director Leacock, the man describing his NSU symptoms is filmmaker Stan Brakhage.

Ethnographic Asian

More coming...

Ethnographic European

‘Anastenaria’ (1968) 20m, dir. Peter Haramis. Dionysian worship in modern Greece, with lyra, drum, and fire dancing. Anastenaria is a form of worship taking place on May 21, sanctioned by the Greek Orthodox Church. Here we experience the slaughter and communal eating of a calf, a procession and the final initiation dance.

'La Vie Dans Une Ferme Française' (1960) 11m, uncredited director. Filmed in a bucolic farm and village in La Vallée de la Seine. Draft horses, old plows and carts, no cars in village. Family life, working on farm, and village school and shop. Exceptional cinematography.

'On Mediterranean Shores (Southern Greece)' (1948) 20m, dir. John Ferno, photographed by Richard Leacock. Depicts life on the shores of the Mediterranean and trade on the sea itself. Portrays the Corinth Canal, Kephellania, Pireaus, andAthens, as well as travel through the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Shows Constitution Square and the Acropolis.

Ethnographic Hispanic and Latino

'Low Rider' (1976) 20m, dir. Frank Lisciandro. Made for the US Department of Transportation, is a humorous film about the travails of drunk driving. Featuring the Imperials Car Club of Echo Park, it is a historically important film documenting many of the positive elements of the SoCal lowriding culture.

'Valle de las Palmas' (1966) 11m, prod. D.L. Richardson. Here Pablo, a Mexican boy, tells about his family, friends and teacher, and the farm life in his valley. A terrific "day in the life" story of a rural family of a country doctor living in a hamlet of Northern Baja California. Home, work, and school scenes depict life as it was in 1966

Music & Dance Films

'Africa Dances' (1972) 27m, dir. Ramakantha Sarma. In a performance that can only be described as orgasmic, the dancers and musicians of Les Ballets Africains, the national dance company of Guinea, perform in the general Assembly Hall of the United Nations. This exceptional film is on YouTube, but the resolution is terrible (check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y-LPfRbqAg) Although our copy has shifted to red, the resolution is outstanding, and some of the color can be recovered by our digitizer. The film was produced by the United Nations and introduced by Alistair Cooke. Master drummer Famoudou Konaté appears in the film, while the remainder of the performers still need to be identified.

'Music of India' (1952), 10m. Produced by Indian Government Films Division. Several of the leading lights of Indian classical music of the 20th century are shown here in 1952. The film features a short tour de force by Ravi Shankar, sitar. Also Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, sarod; Pandit Ram Naryan, sarangi; Ustad Mohammad Khan, been. A historically important film.

'Onstage with Judith Somogi' (1980) 29m, prod. Bill Dawson. A bittersweet film focusing on young conductor Judith Somogi, demonstrating the dedication and hard work needed to build a music career. Beverly Sills. Max Rubin, and others are interviewed. Somogi died tragically eight year after the film was made at age 51: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Somogi

‘Paderewski: Lizst’s Second Hungarian Rhapsody’ (1938) 10m. dir. Lothar Mendes from the film 'Moonlight Sonata', a fact that was uncovered by noted cellist and musical film historian Terry King. We wish to counter the rumor that your ciné16 staff will be conducting a hum-along of this well-known piece.

‘Sascha Gorodnitzki, Pianist’ (1946) 11m, dir. Israel Berman. Need we say more than Chopin’s Waltz in E minor, the Mazurka in A minor, and the Paganini-Lizst ‘La Campanella’?

'Suzuki Teaches American Children & Their Mothers (1967) 27m, prod. Byrl L. Sims. Classic footage of master instructor Shinichi Suzuki teaching violin to children & mothers.

'Yehudi Menuhin’ (1948) 10m, dir. Paul Gordon. Although Geoff's Grandma Shura was the Menuhin family housekeeper, we never got the opportunity to listen to the violinist through the garden fence like she did. Here is an outstanding performance of Gypsy Airs, opus 20, by Sarasate, with Adolf Baller on piano, so we can see on film what we missed out on.

Caveats:

1) Many of these films are old, some may be the only print of a given film that we can find anywhere. While we strive to have the best print possible, it's not uncommon for a film to have splices or other damage, including missing titles, occasionally. We can correct some -- but not all -- red color shifts. We have watched and researched each of these films, and feel they're all critical to save.

2) We have made every attempt to include films that are in the public domain or are out of distribution. In the case of the latter, we will have attempted to identify the current copyright holder. If we cannot, we'll move ahead anyway and put the film up on the Internet Archive, as it's not uncommon for companies making these films to be out of business, and/or the filmmakers deceased. Occasionally, someone claiming to be a copyright holder could resurface and send us a "Cease and Desist" request, asking that the film be removed from the Internet Archive. In such a case, when provided with proof, we will honor the C&D request, and remove the film.