The Last Word in Chickens(1924)

Primary(en)

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

De Queeste(nl)

In search of a more sustainable food system, three organic farming pioneers discuss their hopes and doubts with a spectrum of experts and stakeholders.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)(en)

Documentary footage of the author and his two daughters at home.

Number Our Days(en)

Based on the book by anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff, this Academy Award-winning short documentary offers a tender portrait of a community of elderly yet resilient Jews living, loving, and at times struggling, in Venice, California. From everyday trials to traditional celebrations, this compassionate portrayal of Eastern European survivors cuts straight to the heart of every viewer and reminds us of the joys and realities of long life. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Passfire(en)

A film about fireworks, the people who make them and the cultures behind them across the globe.

Seawards the Great Ships(en)

Documentary about shipbuilding on the Clyde. In 1960, Glasgow and other towns and ports on the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland, were still one of the world's great centres of shipbuilding. The film gives an idea of the business of building a ship - the largest moving thing made by man - from the naval architects who design her to the workmen, the shipbuilders in the yard, through to a ship's launching.

Project Hope(en)

Documenting the maiden voyage of the SS Hope, a hospital ship operated by Project HOPE, where it brought medical care to Indonesia and South Vietnam in 1960-1961.

A Tribute to Dylan Thomas(en)

An atmospheric tribute to the genius of Welsh poet and dramatist Dylan Thomas, using many of the windswept locations where Thomas himself grew up and found his inspiration. The film is hosted/presented by Richard Burton, Thomas's friend, who narrates the story and appears from time to time amidst the Welsh landscape. Burton had already appeared in Douglas Cleverdon's acclaimed BBC radio dramatization of Thomas's 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood in the 1950s and, in the early Seventies, would appear in director Andrew Sinclair's film version as First Voice. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation and National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales in 2000.

Casals Conducts: 1964(en)

While at his workshop in Puerto Rico, Pablo Casals prepares to conduct a Bach suite for a concert performance. Oscar Winner for the category "Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects". Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Thursday's Children(en)

Won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Short of 1954. The subject deals with the children at The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent. The hearing-handicapped children are shown painstakingly learning what words are through exercises and games, practicing lip-reading and finally speech. Richard Burton's calm and sometimes-poetic narration adds to the heartwarming cheerfulness and courage of the children. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with British Film Institute in 2005.

3rd Ave. El(en)

Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

The True Story of the Civil War(en)

Documentary short about the American Civil War. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

T Is for Tumbleweed(en)

T Is for Tumbleweed is a 1958 English-language short film directed by Louis Clyde Stoumen, starring Anne Lockhart. It features some tumbleweed that moves through a small town in the desert and interacts with people and animals. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Exploratorium(en)

An Oscar-nominated film with no narration showing the Exploratorium (The Palace of Arts and Science) in San Francisco. It shows many of the exhibits and the reaction of visitors to many of these. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Naked Yoga(en)

Three young ladies perform yoga without clothes in the open air of Cyprus. Another does the same in a studio. These visuals are interspersed with images of Eastern art, processed for "psychedelic" effect. The narrator relates the practice of yoga to Buddhist philosophy. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with British Film Institute in 2012.

Conquest of Light(en)

Examines the mesmerising construction of clear crystal glass pieces created by the craftsmen of Waterford. The process from the intense heat of the furnace to glass blowing, shaping, cutting, honing, filling and finishing is all depicted in this celebration of the art of creation of Waterford Glass. Academy Award Nominee: Best Live Action Short - 1976.

Les influenceurs sont dans le pré(fr)

Company Town(en)

A Canadian union and workers in a GM plant mobilize to save it in what will become the fight of their lives.

Death of a Skyline(en)

A group of citizens lobbied to save the landmark Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator, one of the defining features of Mayerthorpe’s landscape, from being torn down in 2003 - as thousands of others had been. This film documents those efforts while exploring the broader history and significance of the grain elevator.

Greening the Desert(en)

Permaculture expert Geoff Lawton describes how he and a team of volunteers grew an oasis in arid, salty lowland, despite extremely high temperatures and minimal irrigation. The site is the lowest dryland expanse on Earth: a plain in Jordan, two kilometres northeast of the Dead Sea, and 400 metres below sea level.