Some of the records in our database link to videos that you can watch. Click on the films below.
"Mainly shows trip(s) up the Stikine by riverboat and placer mining activity [nearby]. Includes: waterfront view of Wrangell, Alaska; views of and from riverboat Hazel B No. 2 going upriver; the Three Sisters (islands in the river); riverboat at Telegraph Creek and barge at Dease Lake, and local activity; forest fire & fire-fighting; shots of Fokker F-11AHB flying boat designated CF-AUV (at dock and taking off) and a Fairchild floatplane; aerial shots in the vicinity; wreckage of aircraft CF-AUV (which crashed at McDame Lake, 13 July 1935); general scenery and wildlife. The placer mining footage, which is interspersed, includes shots of a small mining camp, sluice works, panning, hydraulic monitor operation, jerry-built mining equipment in use, etc. [The footage] was shot [ca. 1933-35] by Joseph J. Jackson, whose company "Three J's Placer Mines, Inc." prospected near the confluence of Thibert Creek with Dease Lake in [the years 1931-35]." (BC Archives)
Watch: Stikine River travel (ca. 1933-35) : [edited excerpts]
"This collection of 16mm clips was originally shot and compiled in the 1950s by W.H. Tilley. Footage features images of downtown St. Louis (including St. Louis Union Station), Philadelphia's Independence Hall, 'Demolishing of Deaf School' (1956), the Texas State Capitol and Congress Avenue, Barton Springs (1953), exterior and interior views of the Tilley home (1953), the flag and Capitol building at sunrise, and sightseeing in Montreal (including parades, a carriage, and views from Mt. Royal)" Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
Watch: via Texas Archive of the Moving Image
"This amateur film chronicles several young ranchers in their day-to-day activities. The film is divided into six chapters, each highlighting a different theme. Setting the scene with shots of a river bend and surrounding cliffs, the movie shows two young men skipping stones by a creek. After playing around with rocks and a rope swing, they drive back to 141 Ranch. At the ranch, they take care of their cattle and spend quality time grooming and riding their horses. The last chapter introduces a strange boy, who startles one of the ranchers as he washes a frying pan outside. The film ends with the young men riding their horses towards the camera" Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
Watch: via Texas Archive of the Moving Image
"University of Illinois Chicago (UICC) student film that documents the Chicago Fire Department house and fire officers of 158 West Erie Street. Images of the officers at work and play are interspersed with portraits of the firehouse, which is located in Chicago's River North neighborhood." Chicago Film Archives
Watch: chicagofilmarchives.org
“Bu filmi ile Ümraniye 1 Mayıs mahallesindeki yoksul halkın barınma hakkı mücadelesi 1970’li yılların 2. yarısının atmosferinde veren bir film yapmış […]. 1977 senesinin 2 eylül günü 1 Mayıs Mahallesi’ne gecekondu yıkımı için gelen polisler ile mahalle halkı arasında çıkan ve 12 mahallelinin ölüp onlarcasının yaralandığı çatışmalar sırasında çeşitli sosyalist yapılar etrafında örgütlenmiş mahalle sakinlerinin gösterdiği direniş Türkiye’deki sosyalist mücadele tarihi içerisinde çok önemli bir yere sahiptir [...].” Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/2-gun-2-eylul-direnisi-1978/ (13 November 2019).
“The conflict between the District May 1 organized in various socialist collectives and the police that came to the district to demolish the shantytown, which resulted in 12 people living in the district killed on 2 September 1977 has an important place in the history of the socialist movement in Turkey [...]. [İshak Işıtan’s] film is about the poor people of Ürmaniye/District May 1’s a struggle for the housing right reflecting the atmosphere of the second half of the 1970s [...]. Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/2-gun-2-eylul-direnisi-1978/ (13 November 2019).
Watch: http://sinematek.tv/2-gun-2-eylul-direnisi-1978/
"University of Illinois Chicago (UICC) animated student film about being drafted to the Vietnam War." Chicago Film Archives
Watch: chicagofilmarchives.org
Un joven evoca su pasado en el que pierde a su esposa en un accidente de automóvil. Lleno de dudas, decide reunirse con ella.
A young man remembers the loss of his wife due to a car accident. Filled with doubt, he decides to reunite with her.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
"This experimental film, made by Kenneth Anthony in the late 1960s, records the story of Adam and Eve. It opens with chimpanzees and recreates Michaelangelo’s The Creation of Man. The production follows the traditional telling of the Biblical creation story. Eve accepts an apple, gives it to Adam, and God rebukes the two humans. The rest of the film is a collection of shots: a protest march, a swimsuit competition in a beauty pageant, a demolition derby, a Foreign Legion ceremony, indications of space exploration, and a photography exhibit, among others. These shots may not have been filmed by Anthony and may have been stock footage as they appear to include words in French. According to Anthony, the film was meant to be projected on multiple screens. It seems likely that the story of Adam and Eve would have been on a main screen with the shots from the latter half of the film projected onto accompanying screen or screens" Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
Watch: via Texas Archive of the Moving Image
"An eight week Western camping trip in the summer of 1936 by seven boys from the Hartford, Connecticut area, under the leadership of Ken Strong, a Hartford Seminary graduate. Filmed by then teenage amateur movie maker Robbins Barstow (1919-2010)." Center for Home Movies.
Watch: via Archive.org
"Silent film set in a small African village. The King takes his young son, the Prince, on a journey to teach him lessons on how to be a great leader by showing appreciation and care for the people they rule. The King guides the Prince to help care for the ill suffering from leprosy, learn skills like farming the land, making clothing and building shelter, and enrolls him in school to get an education and learn religion. The film shows many skills and medical processes of African villagers in detail from start to finish." Chicago Film Archives
Watch: Chicagofilmarchives.org
Watch: via Archive.org
" Ah, verda'? planteaba una extraña combinación entre la militancia política y la contracultural. Jugaba con el ataque a los símbolos del orden nacional y estatal (la bomba en el Monumento a la Revolución y en el PRI, los judiciales persecutores), la crítica a la sociedad de consumo representada por la huida de la pareja de jóvenes entre los espectaculares, la liberación sexual (la combi zarandeada porque dentro hacen el amor, o la urgente calentura de los monjes una vez que han probado el LSD y cruzado las puertas de la percepción), y la representación de la fantasía jipiteca de que el mundo sería más alivianado si todos probaran las drogas duras" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
" Ah, verda' [Ah, right?] was a strange combination between political and countercultural militancy. It played with the attack to symbols of state and national order (a bomb in the Monument to the Revolution and in PRI offices [Revolutionary Institutional Party], the chasing police men), a critique to a consumer society represented by a young couple running away in between billboards, the sexual liberation (a truck shaken because someone is making love inside, the sex desire of monks once they have tried LSD and crossed the gates of perception), and the representation of the mexican hippies' fantasy in which the world would be cooler if everyone tried hard drugs" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012).
Watch: Via Sergio García Michel's Youtube channel
"“The Air Evac Story, or: Better You Should Walk?” is a humorous amateur film that spoofs the United States Air Force’s medical evacuation services. Starring members of the 14th Aeromedical Transport Squadron, the film begins at squadron headquarters at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. It then follows crew members on their daily mission to transport patients, making stops in El Paso and Brackettville. While the voiceover narration commends the squadron for their professionalism, their comedic actions throughout the film tell a different story. Of particular note is a cameo by none other than John Wayne. Charles F. Curtis, a cinematography engineer with the Air Force, made the spoof with his crew around the same time that Wayne was in Brackettville shooting The Alamo (1960). Curtis helped design a working camera track system for the blockbuster film, and Wayne agreed to make a brief appearance in the Air Evac Story as thanks" Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
Watch: via Texas Archive of the Moving Image
"All In A Day - Consistently good photography marks this humorous document of the trials and tribulations that beset a man who goes fishing despite the objections of his wife. Overruling his wife's plea that he take her to visit her mother, the man sets out on his trip early the next morning. His first disappointment comes when the pal who was to accompany him bows out. Setting out alone, trouble comes in bunches. He gets a ticket for speeding, then a flat tire, and when he arrives at the lake selected for fishing, the boat is flooded with water. After bailing it out, the man rows out on the lake, forgetting his lunch, tackle, etc., and he must return to shore - further building up his state of high dudgeon. Before night falls, he's fallen in the lake, not to mention the fact he caught nary a fish, so he returns home a sadder but wiser man. But even then, his troubles are not over. His wife, who promised he'd 'be sorry' for going on the trip, locks him out of the house. In the closing scene he finds solace in his little son, who remains his only friend. One outstanding feature of this film is the maker's ability to cut scenes as he shoots. Result is each scene dovetails snugly with the next, and this greatly simplified, we are sure, the task of editing the film." American Cinematographer, May. 1952, 211.
Watch: via the University of Utah
El filme muestra las Salinas de Añana en la provincia de Álava, una mágica visión de terrazas de madera bañadas del blanco de la sal, lugar del que se obtiene el material con métodos transmitidos de generación en generación. Fueron los romanos quienes comenzaron a explotar las minas de forma metódica, hace más de 2000 años. Los salineros de Añana, hombres y mujeres, jóvenes y ancianos, trabajan en sus terrazas blancas de mayo a septiembre para obtener una abundante cosecha de sal.
Texto de Miguel Ángel Quintana
The film depicts the Salt Valley of Añana in the province of Álava, a magical vision of wooden decks bathed in white salt and the place where it is obtained through methods taught from generation to generation. It was the romans who began to exploit the mines in a methodical way, over 2000 years ago. The salt workers of Añana, men and women, young and elderly, work in their white decks from May to September, to obtain an abundant salt harvest.
Text by Miguel Ángel Quintana.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
"Between 1877 and 1885, an English photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, conducted detailed experiments analyzing human and animal motion using rapid photography. In 1968, John Straiton took the published works of Muybridge and created from them a fascinating and hilarious film. A tribute to the serious maker of the first nudie before the invention of movies." Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre.
Watch: via YouTube
Documental sobre la Fiesta del Ganso en Lekeitio. Dentro de las fiestas y tradiciones de Euskalherria, el Antzar Eguna de Lekeitio destaca por su gran poder de convocatoria. Las cuadrillas de mozos acompañados de charagas que amenizan el acto, conducen a la popa de sus botes al líder de cada grupo hasta el ganso, que amarrado por sus patas cabeza abajo, cuelga de una soga que cruza el puerto. Mediante tirones de esta soga, los mozos agarrados al cuello de los gansos, son izados una y otra vez hasta arrancar la cabeza del animal o caer al agua agotados. Esta singular e insólita fiesta ha despertado gran polémica entre sus detractores y seguidores. Actualmente los gansos que se emplean están muertos o son de plástico.
Texto de Miguel Ángel Quintana
Documentary about the Goose Celebration in Lekeitio. Among the celebrations and traditionsof Euskalherria, the Antzar Eguna of Lekeitio is one of the most attractive events. The troops go accompanied by musicians, and they lead the group leader towards their boats' stern until reaching a goose that is tied upside down by its legs, hanging from a rope that crosses the port. By pulling the rope, the participants hang on to the gooses neck, and are raised over and over again until they tear the goose's head or they fall to the water exhausted. This singular and unusual celebration has produced controversy between followers and detractors. Currently the gooses employed are either dead or made of plastic.
Text by Miguel Ángel Quintana.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
"Aqua Viva, as its name suggests, is a study of water in motion. To state it thus baldly, however, cannot reveal the true cinematic beauty of Allan Hammer's swirling patterns of light and shadow, executed with consistent success under the most difficult exposure conditions. Yet more important than Mr. Hammer's technical competence is his imaginative perception of small moments of great loveliness. Such scenes, however, because of their very delicacy, tend always to lose their effectiveness in large doses. Aqua Viva as a production leans toward excess length." Movie Makers, Dec. 1950, 466.
Watch: Aqua Viva on YouTube via Hampshire College
Travelogue that visits tourist destinations across several countries in South America.
Watch: via UC San Diego Library
"Travelogue of cities, towns, and outdoor activities found around Lake Michigan. There is a wide variety of footage, including sand dunes, beaches, parades, many shots of flowers, ships, industrial ports scenes, attractions of historic horse-and-buggy town Mackinaw City, a mansion on fire, Grand Hotel: World’s Largest Summer Hotel, camping, rafting, farmers harvesting crops, and the Prudential Building in Chicago." Chicago Film Archives.
Watch: via Chicago Film Archives
"In May-June 1988, Robbins Barstow and his wife Meg, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA, made a six-week trip around the world. Places visited include Hawaii, Austrailia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, India, and London, England." Archive.org
Watch: via A/V Geeks (Archive.org)
"Educational film surveying the instruction of the fine and performing arts at leading African American institutions, including Calhoun, Dillard, Fisk, Hampton, and Howard. The film argues that exposure to theater, music, dance, and the fine arts produces well-rounded students and enriches their lives." National Film Preservation Foundation.
Watch: via the National Film Preservation Foundation
An artist sets up his easel on a shore with the intention of painting a nature scene. Soon, people gather at the shore and thwart the artist's plan to paint.
Watch: via the G.R.A.M.C. Film Library
“Samim Kocagöz’ün “Teneke” adlı eserinden uyarlanmıştır. İşgüzar bir bekçinin uzun ve yorucu bir kovalamacanın ardından, yoksulluğunun gerçek yüzüyle karşılaşmasının öyküsüdür.” Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/asayis-berkemal-1967-2/ (15 Oct 2019).
“Adapted from Samim Kocagöz’s short story, “Teneke.” It tells the story of a meddlesome watchman/night guard, who faces the reality of poverty after a long and tiring chase.” Sinematek.tv: http://sinematek.tv/asayis-berkemal-1967-2/ (15 Oct 2019).
Watch: http://sinematek.tv/asayis-berkemal-1967-2/
Todos los miércoles en Villafranca de Ordizia se celebra una singular feria que, en muchos aspectos, marca la tendencia de los precios y estimación de los productos del campo, ganado, etc.
Every Wednesday in Villafranca de Ordizia, there's a singular fair that, in many ways, marks the trend for prices and estimation of country goods and cattle.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
"A compilation film documenting the many Augustas--streets, storefronts and cities from Montana to Maine--that Scott Nixon encountered as a traveling salesman based in Augusta, GA." Moving Image Research Collection, University of South Carolina
Watch: Video available on Moving Image Research Collection website
"Autumn...Frost Country and Dunes both films made by David Adams of Santa Monica, Calif. rated high in the Class "C" list of winners. Both in color with optical sound. "Autumn...Frost Country" is an 8-minute film of changing leaves narrated with a poem written and recited by Robert Frost. "Dunes" is a 7-minute film depicting the vastness of the desert at Death Valley. The film does an excellent job of conveying the fact that, in spite of the soltitude of the desert, there is plenty of life to be observed there if one has patience," PSA Journal, Mar. 1970, 43.
Watch: YouTube link to a 16mm transfer of the film.
Feria de Santo Tomás en San Sebastian.
Saint Thomas Fair in San Sebastian.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
El filme muestra el proceso de realización de un anillo de bodas.
The film depicts the process of creating a wedding ring.
Watch: Via Miguel Ángel Quintana's Vimeo Channel
"Travel through the Balkans." UC San Diego Library.
Watch: via UC San Diego Library
Total Pages: 9
Amateur Cinema