Academic Film Archive of North America
The mission of The Academic Film Archive of North America (AFA) is to acquire, preserve, document, and promote academic film by providing an archive, resource, and forum for continuing scholarly advancement and public exhibition. The AFA defines academic film as any film in the broad subject areas of the Humanities and Sciences which were sold into secondary school, university, and public libraries. Such films might have been made by educational film companies, television networks, non-profit or...
Share This Collection
392
RESULTS
RESULTS
Media Type
Year
Topics & Subjects
Collection
Creator
Language
eye
Title
Date Archived
Creator
This PSSC film utilizes a fascinating set consisting of a rotating table and furniture occupying surprisingly unpredictable spots within the viewing area. The fine cinematography by Abraham Morochnik, and funny narration by University of Toronto professors Donald Ivey and Patterson Hume is a wonderful example of the fun a creative team of filmmakers can have with a subject that other, less imaginative types might find pedestrian.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 9 reviews )
Topics: physics, science, PSSC
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 9 reviews )
Topics: physics, science, PSSC
The Black upper middle-class Myers family moves into all-white Levittown, PA in August, 1957, and are snubbed and mistreated, in this powerful landmark documentary showcasing racism in the United States.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: african-american, black, racism, housing, urban
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: african-american, black, racism, housing, urban
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 geometric planes lend a Chirico-like quality to Julian's animation. Great musical score by Serge Hovey. About the film, Steve Goldman writes: "Les Goldman was my father. Creating this film was one of the most important accomplishments of his life. He was inspired to make this film after hearing the poem 'Hangman' read on Pacifica Radio in...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 5 reviews )
Topics: animation, death, horror
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 5 reviews )
Topics: animation, death, horror
Designed to create a heightened awareness of color in our environment. Avoids theoretical analysis, emphasizing instead the sensuous and emotional appeal of color and its power to influence vision and feeling. Features an avant-garde auto harp soundtrack by Werner Bracher
Topic: color
Topic: color
Alienation, angst, and schizophrenia are powerful themes addressed by Kearney in this forgotten masterpiece. From a story by Conrad Aiken.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 16 reviews )
Topics: schizophrenia, teen angst
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 16 reviews )
Topics: schizophrenia, teen angst
This is one of the films in the 'Toute La Bande' series. This film is a landmark of interracial personal relationships in educational films. In his book 'Films You Saw in School,' (McFarland) Geoff Alexander writes: ‘Toute La Bande’ was an exceptional thirteen-part French language instruction series of 1970, created by language educator Mary Glasgow and produced by Donald Carter. [1] Each film in the series consists of a light drama, sequentially beginning with the arrival of a student...
Topics: French, foreign language teaching
Topics: French, foreign language teaching
Here, manic Princeton professor Eric Rogers hosts, continually removing and replacing his eyeglasses, ordering around lab assistants --- he forcefully breaks a glass test tube in the hands of an assistant to demonstrate the inelasticity of water --- and furiously pounds equations on a blackboard (Leacock says the scribblings must have lasted 45 minutes, in what must be one of the more necessary cuts in the history of educational film.) Rogers finally conducts an experiment with a young girl,...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: Physics
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: Physics
In the hands of another director, the inner-workings of a magnet laboratory could have caused a whole classroom to fall asleep of boredom. No so when Leacock was hired to produce this twenty-minute version of lab mayhem. Try this: six researchers in a lab at MIT in the late 1950's show-off the power of electro-magnets, and in the process, accidentally set an experiment on fire(Leacock says he did a retake without the fire, but preferred the immediacy of the fire sequence and kept it in). Or...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 4 reviews )
Topics: magnet, degauss, physics, science, PSSC, Leacock
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 4 reviews )
Topics: magnet, degauss, physics, science, PSSC, Leacock
Portrays the images and sensations evoked by a group of piglets sleeping, eating, and exploring a barnyard.
Topic: pigs
Topic: pigs
Lisl Weil, a dancer who often performed in New York with friend Tommy Scherman and his Little Orchestra Society, was also a splendid charcoal artist. Here, accompanied by Sherman’s musical interpretation of the Paul Dukas classic, she soars across the screen, drawing abstract characters on a massive blank board in a timeless, fun film that juxtaposes wonderfully with the better-known Disney treatment in 'Fantasia.'
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: charcoal, dukas
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: charcoal, dukas
Shows the San Jose Mercury News of 1970 in all elements of production. Briefly shows the IBM 1130 mainframe computer (http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/1130/1130_intro.html)
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: publishing, media
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: publishing, media
A dramatization of a Roman boy's friendship with a slave in his father's household. Depicts, through the young boys' experiences and activities, the way of life and customs of ancient Rome. Some dialogue in Latin. This film was one of three made by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films' Bill Deneen utilizing the sets from Samuel Bronston's epic 'The Fall of the Roman Empire.' This 'Claudius' was actually one of two released concurrently by EB, one with and one without dialogue in Latin, and is...
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Encyclopedia Britannica Films, William Deneen, Samuel Bronston, Latin dialogue
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Encyclopedia Britannica Films, William Deneen, Samuel Bronston, Latin dialogue
Directed by Gabriel Weiss. One of the strangest, fun, and perhaps most unforgettable films in the science genre was this, produced by University of California at San Diego chemistry professor Kent Wilson, and choreographed by Weiss’ future wife and 1969 America’s Junior Miss, Jackie Benington. After a short description of the interaction between “stars” 30s Ribosome, mRNA, and Initiator Factor One by Stanford’s Nobel Prize-winning Paul Berg, the camera moves to an open field at...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: protein, DNA, RNA
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: protein, DNA, RNA
Here, a 25 ton block of granite being burned, drilled, and blasted from the heart of a Vermont mountain, focusing on the machinery used. Filmed at the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre, VT. For more on filmmaker Carson Davidson, visit http://www.afana.org/davidsoncarson.htm
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: quarry, Barre
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: quarry, Barre
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Educational Services Inc.; Physical Science Study Committee.
movies
eye 3,573
favorite 15
comment 0
Professor Richard H. Bolt discusses sound wave phenomena, how sound travels, and how it is reflected. The film demonstrates that sound is a wave phenomenon and thus can also move around barriers. Also the film shows how sound waves can be refracted through a lens. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
Liberace winks at the camera, reminisces about the past, and sends a turkey to its doom, performing 'Turkey In The Straw' and 'Shine On Harvest Moon.'
Topics: Liberace, piano
Topics: Liberace, piano
'Journey to the Center of a Triangle' (1976) 8m, dir. Bruce & Katharine Cornwell. Another fabulous film by the Cornwells, created on the Tektronics 4051 Graphics Terminal. Presents a series of animated constructions that determine the center of a variety of triangles, including such centers as circumcenter, incenter, centroid and orthocenter. The music is Bach's preludes 8 (Eb minor) and 12 (F minor) from the Well Tempered Clavier. More on the Cornwells at http://www.afana.org/cornwell.htm...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 7 reviews )
Topics: mathematics, science
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 7 reviews )
Topics: mathematics, science
Here, Dr. Albert V. Baez demonstrates vectors in a Palo Alto (CA) High School classroom. He uses rubber models to show vector displacement in two and three dimensions, and introduces vector addition, scalar multiplication of vector and other concepts. Based on the textbook 'Physics,' by the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC).
Topics: physics, PSSC, vectors
Topics: physics, PSSC, vectors
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Physical Science Study Committee.; Educational Services, Inc.; Modern Talking Picture Service, inc.
movies
eye 1,848
favorite 13
comment 0
George J. Wolga shows why we believe in the unity of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. He performs experiments which show that the radiation arises from accelerated charges and consists of transverse waves that can be polarized. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
A portrait of a country and its long relationship with the United States and a report on the political, economic and social crisis emerging in Puerto Rico today.
Topic: Puerto Rico
Topic: Puerto Rico
Provincetown: 1953 The First Summer (2007) 6m. This extraordinary home movie is essentially a time capsule of Provincetown, Massachusetts, as it was in the summer of 1953, consisting of old stills and silent black and white film. In 1953, Yvonne Andersen and Betty King, art students at LSU, went to Provincetown for the summer to study with painter Hans Hofmann. Living there at the same time, aspiring writer Dominic Falcone. The trio met in Provincetown, and for a time were all working at the...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
This tribute video was made for the late Stephen Parr (1953-2017), founder of the Oddball Film Archives in San Francisco, California, by Oddball researcher Adam Dziesinski. Stephen had amassed some 50,000 reels of film and was one of the most prominent --- and loved --- archivists in the world. An obituary written by Laura Wenus in "Mission Life" quotes archivist Rick Prelinger: “Archives tend to be really closed places, behind closed doors, mysterious and to serve some people and...
Topic: film archive
Topic: film archive
Creator of the Mr. Magoo and Tom Terrific animated characters, Deitch has spent the last several decades in Prague, directing films based on children’s picture books along with his wife and colleague, Zdenka Deitchova. Here, Deitch describes the painstaking process of animating a picture book for film and selecting a musical score. For more on Deitch, visit Creator of the Mr. Magoo and Tom Terrific animated characters, Deitch has spent the last several decades in Prague, directing films based...
Topics: Gene Deitch, picture books, animation
Topics: Gene Deitch, picture books, animation
This film documents a day in the life of a 12 year old Korean girl, learning to dive as a haenyeo on the island of Jeju. This novice diver is of the last generation that will engage in this vocation, and serves as an important historical document. Haenyeo divers are able to dive 30-50 feet with no breathing apparatus, holding their breaths for 2-3 minutes. From 30,000 divers in the 1970s, there are only an estimated 5,000 of them today, most over the age of 50. The film shows the girl diving...
Topics: academic film, Korea, diving, Jeju, haenyeo, ama
Topics: academic film, Korea, diving, Jeju, haenyeo, ama
Explains how Japan's rapid industrial growth has influenced the way of life in the country and has affected the international political and economic position of the country. Suggests that Japan turned to industrialization to support a rapidly growing population on a small and relatively poor land area. Deneen shot the aerial shots himself alone, while piloting a single-engine aircfraft, pointing the camera out the window. As an extra, Deneen appears on-camera in a 3:53 non-distributed film,...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: Japan Asia, industrial
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: Japan Asia, industrial
Mona's Candle Light was discovered among reels of film that Geoff Alexander, of the Bay Area-based Academic Film Archive of North America, bought at a flea market in an unmarked box. There are no credits, so it is impossible to determine who shot it and for what purpose. The film is 1950s footage, probably amateur, of a well know lesbian club (which had opened in the 1930s), Mona's Candle Light, and it is an invaluable document of that underground scene. The film opens with a panning shot of...
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: drag king, lesbian nightclub
favoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: drag king, lesbian nightclub
Here, Clifford West explores the human body through non-traditional abstract focusing technique. Norma Dupire, the model in the film, writes: "I was a 20-yr-old student wife working as an art model in Detroit and pregnant with my first child. I borrowed a car on a summer morning in 1962 to get out to the studio in Mr. West's house in Bloomfield Hills. It was a three-hour session of easy poses because most of that time Mr. West was adjusting equipment. His directing was quite relaxed, he...
favoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: poetry, experimental
favoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: poetry, experimental
Examines the nature of sound waves and demonstrates how to measure the speed of sound and diffraction and interference of sound waves.
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
Far more than a travelogue with pretty pictures, this little-known film won six international awards shortly after its release. 'Iran' consists of spectacular geographical and archaeological footage interspersed with "slice of life" shots, evidencing best juxtapositional editing we've ever seen. This is a buried masterpiece from the director of 'A Man and a Woman,' 'Happy New Year,' and 'And Now My Love.' Lelouch reportedly shot six miles of footage to make this film, which apparently...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: Persia, Petroleum, Qashqai, nomad, Islam, mosque
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: Persia, Petroleum, Qashqai, nomad, Islam, mosque
'Symmetry' (1966) 10m, dir. Philip Stapp Stapp was one of the greatest animators working in the 1950-1975 era, using stylized, often pointillist abstract imagery, in a floating world sometimes surrealist, at other times reminiscent of Japanese "ukiyo-e" illustration. His spectacular 'Symmetry' is his greatest film, a fantasy of dancing images breaking apart, spinning, and converging. For more information on Stapp, visit: http://www.afana.org/stapp.htm
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topic: Animation
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topic: Animation
Bruce and Katharine Cornwell are primarily known for a series of remarkable animated films on the subject of geometry. Created on the Tektronics 4051 Graphics Terminal, they are brilliant short films, tracing Klee-like geometric shapes to intriguing music, including the memorable 'Bach meets Third Steam Jazz' musical score in ‘Congruent Triangles.’ In this melding of art and science, the Cornwells create a quasi-hypnotic take on a mathematical construct. More on the Cornwells at...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 6 reviews )
Topic: mathematics, science
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 6 reviews )
Topic: mathematics, science
Presents a 50-year history of the films produced by the Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, including excerpts from films made by John Barnes and Larry Yust, etc. Former EB VPMarta Gonzalez says though uncredited, VP Don Hoffman produced it & wrote the script. Hosted by long-time EB narrator Jim Brill.
Topics: educational films, James Brill
Topics: educational films, James Brill
Discusses the physical structure of rocks thrust to the earth's surface from geological cataclysms such as volcanoes and earthquakes.
Topic: geology
Topic: geology
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Physical Science Study Committee.; Educational Services, Inc.; Modern Talking Picture Service, inc.
movies
eye 2,011
favorite 11
comment 0
Explains the law of universal gravitation by imagining a solar system of one star and one planet. Professors Patterson Hume and Donald Ivey as inhabitants of planet X describe the process by which they derived the law in their solar system. Demonstrates the kinematics and dynamics of planetary motion using a large turntable as a model of a solar system. Displays satellite orbits as figured by a digital computer. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit...
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
Reveals the many-sided heritage of American architecture. Explains that traditions in architecture were brought to the United States by people of many different nationalities, and that they were blended with historical styles reaching back in time to ancient Greece and Rome to produce a culture uniquely American. For more on director Johanna Alemann, visit http://www.afana.org/alemann.htm
Topic: architecture
Topic: architecture
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Educational Services, Inc.; Physical Science Study Committee.
movies
eye 1,328
favorite 8
comment 1
Dorothy Montgomery uses a Leybold tube to measure the curvature of the path of the electrons in a magnetic field and thus determine the mass of the electron. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: pssc, physics
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: pssc, physics
Tom Smith headed up the Special Effects team at Industrial Light & Magic, where he created all the goodies for the 'Star Wars' films. This is his academic film masterwork, which took over a year to create, over 13 weeks to film, and utilized "traveling mattes," with as many as five separate films running in the background, showcasing wonderful models and graphics. About the making of the film, Tom Smith writes: "I made that film in 1976 with Richard Basehart as narrator and a...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: space, universe, Industrial Light and Magic, ILM
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: space, universe, Industrial Light and Magic, ILM
'Birch Canoe Builder' (1970) 20m, dir. Craig Hinde. Presents a study of the life of 80 year old Bill Hafeman, of Big Fork, MN, a woodsman and craftsman, who builds canoes from birch bark, cedar planks and spruce roots in the traditional Indian way, utilizing neither nails nor glue. Shows him constructing a canoe accompanied by his wife, Violet, as he describes his life in the forest environment and reflects on the importance of preserving ecological order.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Native American craft, afana, canoe
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Native American craft, afana, canoe
Examines geological forces causing the formation of a shield volcano. Shows how the massive lava flow from Mauna Ulu volcano, the first new mountain in the United States in recent history, has reshaped surrounding island terrain. Describes the methods and instruments used by geologists studying volcanic activity. Uses film footage produced over a five - year period to document an extended Hawaiian volcanic eruption from which, in the early 1970's, a whole new mountain emerged. Reveals how the...
Topics: volcano, geology, Mauna Ulu, Hawaii, Maui
Topics: volcano, geology, Mauna Ulu, Hawaii, Maui
Uses demonstrations and examples in discussing the origin and composition of sedimentary rocks. Explains methods by which students can learn about the ways in which sediments are produced, transported, accumulated, and hardened into sedimentary rock.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: geology
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topic: geology
Using the radioactive decay of cosmic ray mu-mesons shows the dilation of time in a filmed experiment which takes place on top of Mt. Washington, N.H. and at M.I.T.in Cambridge, Mass. Explains how data are taken to determine the time distribution of the decays of mu-mesons at rest. Determines the counting rate for mu-mesons with speeds of about .99 the speed of light which arrive on top of Mt. Washington and measures the number that survive to reach sea level. Deduces from the experimental...
favoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: pssc, physics
favoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: pssc, physics
Let's Make a Film (1971) 13m. Explores the activities of the Yellow Ball Workshop, Newton, Massachusetts, which involves young people from the ages of eight through eighteen who create their own films. Individual students demonstrate and discuss the steps involved in preparing their films and show the finished product. Three films being shown made in this film, 'The Enlightenment,' 'Eden,' and 'Just a Fishment of My Imagination,' are included in Andersen's 'Plum Pudding.' For more on Yvonne...
Topic: student-made film
Topic: student-made film
Singer Vikki Carr demonstrates the forerunner of today's phonograph, the automatic musical instrument. She explains the hidden mechanisms whereby priceless pianos are played by the 'invisible hands' of pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski and composer - pianist Edvard Grieg, repeating precisely their performance of 50 years ago. These old orchestrations duplicate sounds of entire orchestras, played by player piano, automatic banjo, and other automatic instruments. Carr sings along with some of them in...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: player pianos
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: player pianos
This film describes how Puerto Rico, with too many people and too few resources, created an industrial economy and emerged from colonial rule to self - government. Governor Luis Muños Marin here decsribes his "Operation Bootstrap" program, interviewed on-camera with director Bill Deneen. The script was written by noted novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard.
Topics: Encyclopedia Britannica Films, William Deneen, Puerto Rico, Luis Muños Marin, Operation Bootstrap
Topics: Encyclopedia Britannica Films, William Deneen, Puerto Rico, Luis Muños Marin, Operation Bootstrap
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Physical Science Study Committee. Physics.; Physical Science Study Committee.; Modern Talking Picture Service, inc.
movies
eye 2,076
favorite 9
comment 0
Professors Donald Ivey and Patterson Hume show how the over-all effect of a very large number of random events can be very predictable, using several unusual games to bring out the statistical nature of this predictability. They explain the predictable nature of radioactive decay in terms of what is shown. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
John Barnes; Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation.
movies
eye 4,624
favorite 13
comment 0
Film dramatizes one of the best-known incidents in English literature - the Christmas visit of Mr. Pickwick and his friends to Dingley Dell Farm. In the large parlor, everyone responds to the cordial atmosphere and joyous capers of Mr. Pickwick. From the Pickwick papers. For more on filmmaker John Barnes, visit http://www.afana.org/barnesbio.htm
Topics: Dickens, Christmas
Topics: Dickens, Christmas
This exceptional film was made during the eruption of Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island. Shows stages of volcanic activity and a detailed view of a major volcanic eruption. Describes techniques used in measuring earthquake activity. Here are terrific shots of geotometers and seismographs. In making the film, editor Ulf Backstrom held filmmaker Bert Van Bork by the belt while he took precipitous shots hanging over lava vents. Van Bork burned through two pairs of Hush Puppies while filming....
Topics: volcanoes, geology
Topics: volcanoes, geology
Professor Byron L Youtz uses a stream of electrons accelerated through mercury vapor to show that the kinetic energy of the electrons is transferred to the mercury atoms only in discrete packets of energy. Establishes the association of the quantum of energy with a line in the spectrum of mercury. Points out that the Frank-Hertz experiment was one of the earliest indications of the existence of internal energy states within the atom. Includes an epilogue by James Franck. A PSSC (Physical...
Topics: physics, PSSC, experiments, electrons
Topics: physics, PSSC, experiments, electrons
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
KQED-TV; National Educational Television Film Service.
movies
eye 1,014
favorite 12
comment 0
Discusses the history of computer development from the first mechanical calculator invented by Blaise Pascal in the 17th century to Babbage calculator, to Eniac, the first completely electronic calculator, built in the mid - 1940's. Discusses Von Neumann's binary system. Explains in lay terms how a computer solves a problem." Features J. Presper Eckert, co-inventor of ENIAC; Richard Hamming; Fred Gruenberger of RAND Corp.
Topic: computer history
Topic: computer history
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp
movies
eye 129
favorite 2
comment 0
Introduces students to an ancient North American Indian culture that thrived briefly in a plateau in what is now Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Shows how archaeologists are able to reach some conclusions about how they lived. Features spectacular helicopter aerial shots. Director Van Bork said first heli pilot quit, thought job too dangerous. Pan shots often begin with abstract forms reminiscent of German expressionism. Outstanding musical score by Hans Wurman's percussion ensemble,...
Topics: Colorado, Native American, Anasazi
Topics: Colorado, Native American, Anasazi
(1978) 30m, dir. David Loeb Weiss. On July 2, 1978, the last hot lead edition of the New York Times rolled off the presses. Weiss, a proofreader for the Times, documented the phasing out of this historical process, and what impresses us now, beyond the Ludlow machine (which casts the lead at 535 degrees), the Linotype machine (operated for the last time by Carl Schlesinger, who also narrates the film), and the presses, is the incredible noise generated by all these people and devices. The...
Topics: newspaper, linotype, typesetting
Topics: newspaper, linotype, typesetting
This exceptional film shows painter Kingman at work in New York's Chinatown, shot by master cinematographer James Wong Howe.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: art, painting, Chinese
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: art, painting, Chinese
A portrait of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in New York City in 1955. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive. The music is Haydn’s Concerto in D, played by harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. Davidson was a great fan of Landowska, and the rights to the music were held by HMV, who told the filmmaker that he could use the music, provided Landowska gave her approval. Through her secretary, Davidson discovered that Landowska distrusted filmmakers, had only seen one film in her life (which she...
Topics: New York City, Trains, Elevated Railway
Topics: New York City, Trains, Elevated Railway
'Ancient World, The: Egypt' (1951) 66m, dir. Ray Garner. This film taces the story of Egypt from the prehistoric period to the time of the Ptolemies, focusing on the Nile, temples, pyramids and the Sphinx. Here, Garner showcases a single shot of ruins as light and dark as clouds pass, a signature of his. The filmmaker waxes poetic in this statement: "For Egypt is a monument, not to the conqueror or statesman, but to the artist, the architect, the painter, the sculptor, whose works will...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
'Gallery' (1971) 7m, dir. Ken Rudolph. What would you say if someone told you he or she could show you the history of thousands of years of Western art in seven minutes? Rudolph can, and does. This film mosaic of 2000 rapid-fire images highlights of the best in Western art, with music by Wendy Carlos. For more on director Ken Rudolph, visit http://www.afana.org/rudolphken.htm
Topic: art history
Topic: art history
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 H. Jeong, PhD, Lake Forest College. About the film, director Tom Smith writes: "Nobel Prize winner Dennis Gabor, holography’s inventor, saw the film after it was made and said it was the best film on the subject that he had seen. It is such a visual subject it made for a good film. I knew the 3-D quality could only be appreciated if...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 4 reviews )
Topics: Physics., Photography., Light.
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 4 reviews )
Topics: Physics., Photography., Light.
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Richard O Moore; Irving Saraf; Morton Subotnick; KQED-TV ; National Educational Television and Radio Center.
movies
eye 1,695
favorite 23
comment 0
Series funded by a grant from IBM. Discusses the computer revolution and the relationship between man and machine. Explains how the computer can process millions of bits of data in seconds and can handle as many arithmetic figures in one minute as a man can handle in a lifetime." Artist of series was Wayne Ensrud; Music was by Morton Sobotnik. This film features Dr. Richard Wesley Hamming of Bell Labs and Prof. Ernest Nagel of Columbia U.
Topic: computer history
Topic: computer history
Sent by the U.S. government as a participant in the Marshall Plan with a specific mission to assist the French in re-gearing their animation studios, Stapp discovered a Europe much-decimated by war, but in further danger of annihilation by nuclear weapons. Returning to the U.S., he produced this alarming-yet-hopeful film, replete with its lonely, Tanguy-inspired landscapes peopled with static figures casting long shadows across charcoal-colored plains. While taking the risk of leaning a bit...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topic: animation, Marshall Plan
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topic: animation, Marshall Plan
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Physical Science Study Committee.; Modern Learning Aids
movies
eye 2,743
favorite 24
comment 0
Shows the four ways that light traveling in a straight line can be bent: by diffraction, scattering, refraction, and reflection. Refraction is illustrated by underwater photography. From the PSSC Physics series. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
In The sixth and final film in Bernard Wilets's Man and the State series is a dramatization of the controversy between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as the two historical figures debate various crises in American history. They are raised from the dead, awaken, debate the Civil War, the Great Depression, and Vietnam, then are returned to their deaths. Filmmaker Bernard Wilets shown briefly on camera, sitting to the right of the camera, wearing a cap. For more on filmmaker Bernard...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: Man and State, Drama, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topic: Man and State, Drama, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson
To say Russell makes films on biology is sort of like saying Rodin threw some clay on a table and a few minutes later came up with a figure representative of a human. 'Light Microscope' starts out didactically (Russell was a former K-12 biology teacher) in instructing the student on proper microscope technique, then goes off into the hyperspace of lighting techniques, using light and colored filters, that make otherwise difficult-to-see phenomena visible. This film, frankly, borders on...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: biology, science, volvox, hydra, amoeba
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: biology, science, volvox, hydra, amoeba
Johanna Alemann is believed to be the first woman filmmaker, operating as a sole proprietor, to run an academic film company in North America. Her focus was mainly on art. She made twenty films for her company, Alemann Films, and passed away on November 12, 2012 at the age of 89. This photo essay, made her friend Stewart Nestor, is a memorial to her. In 2013, it is anticipated that all of her films will be uploaded to the Academic Film Archive of North America collection at the Internet...
Topic: Johanna Alemann
Topic: Johanna Alemann
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Physical Science Study Committee. Physics.; Educational Services, Inc.; Modern Talking Picture Service, inc.
movies
eye 1,996
favorite 15
comment 0
John Shive explains that pulse propagation on ropes and slinkies shows elementary characteristics of waves, such as different speeds in different media. He uses a torsion bar wave machine to repeat these experiments to demonstrate reflection and other phenomena. For more info on PSSC, its history, and films, visit http://www.afana.org/psscfilms.htm
Topics: pssc, physics
Topics: pssc, physics
Part II of director John Barnes’ four-part opus on Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. Through the revelation of the character of Oedipus, Bernard Knox is able to present the play as a kind of detective story that deals with the old religion of Greece and the new ideas that were challenging it. Selected scenes from the play show the actions and motives of Oedipus. For more on director John Barnes, visit http://www.afana.org/barnesbio.htm
Topics: Oedipus, classical Greece
Topics: Oedipus, classical Greece
Explores the theories of Karl Marx and how they evolved as the major ideology of one third of the world. The production examines the roots of Marxism and carefully discloses the contradiction between Marx's hopes and today's reality. For more on director George Kaczender, visit http://www.afana.org/kaczender.htm
a fast POV trip through the streets of Paris.
Topic: Paris
Topic: Paris
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Teaching Aids Exchange
movies
eye 8,100
favorite 33
comment 3
An intriguing historical film, demonstrating many expensive business machines found in modern offices of the era, including electromatic and Chinese typewriters and machines for filming, stenciling, folding and lithographing. Among the machines shown are Diebold's Flofilm microfiche recorder, the Fileomatic Desk, the Pierce Electronic Wire Recorder, the Soundscriber with plastic disk, the Elliott Stencil Machine with Graphotype machine, the Davidson Duplicator for litho printing, the Davidson...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: Chinese Typewriter, Fileomatic, Graphotype, IBM Model A, Stella Pajunas
favoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 3 reviews )
Topics: Chinese Typewriter, Fileomatic, Graphotype, IBM Model A, Stella Pajunas
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
US Army Chemical Corps Biological Warfare Laboratories
movies
eye 308
favorite 7
comment 0
This film shows how infectious bacteriological agents were handled at Ft. Detrick, Maryland in 1959. As Camp Detrick, it was designated a permanent installation for peacetime biological research and development shortly after World War II, a status confirmed in 1956, when the post became Fort Detrick. Its mandate was to continue its previous mission of biomedical research and its role as the world's leading research campus for biological agents requiring specialty containment. Poison warfare, in...
Topics: biological warfare, Ft. Detrick, infectious diseases
Topics: biological warfare, Ft. Detrick, infectious diseases
This important film presents the American Indian speaking for himself ---discussing what he wants and how he feels. It features historically important Native Americans such as Chief Dan George and Lame Deer, and focuses on three American Indian tribes and how they are surviving. Reverend Cliff Hill describes how the Muskogee Creek are fighting to maintain their language, and the Ceremonial Stomp Dance is shown. Medicine Man Lame Deer (John Fire) addresses aspects of the Rosebud Sioux existence,...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Milan Herzog; Physical Science Study Committee. Physics.; Educational Services, Inc.; Modern Talking Picture Service, inc.
movies
eye 1,732
favorite 16
comment 0
In this classic Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) film, MIT professor John G. King discusses the concept of time and shows various devices used to measure and record time intervals from 1 second down to 10 seconds. He points out that the accuracy of a clock can be judged only by comparison with another clock. The question of what time is, psychologically and physically, is raised briefly as well as the question of a possible limit to the subdivision of time. The film features noted...
Topic: PSSC
Topic: PSSC
‘River of No Return’ has no sound track, music, or narration. The filmmakers, Frederic and Sylvia Christian, are virtual unknowns, a husband and wife team from Spokane who filmed their personal journey down Idaho’s Salmon River in their remarkable two-rudder flat-bottomed boat, “Christian’s Challenger,” which we see them building beside the river at 11:55 into the film. They made the film to accompany their public lectures documenting the four-crew journey down the challenging...
Topics: Salmon River, Snake River, Paul Hoefler
Topics: Salmon River, Snake River, Paul Hoefler
This 1948 film takes a critical look at the commercial radio broadcasting industry, focusing on its excessive commercialism It includes, from 9:08 to 9:51, footage of Lee de Forest, inventor of the grid Audion, reading his famous admonition to the NAB: “To the National Association of Broadcasters, New York City. Gentlemen: What have you done to my child, the radio broadcast? He was conceived as a potent instrumentality for culture, fine music, the uplifting of America’s mass...
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: radio, celebrities, Lee de Forest
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 2 reviews )
Topics: radio, celebrities, Lee de Forest
Academic Film Archive of North America
by
Thomas G. Smith
movies
eye 1,426
favorite 2
comment 0
As the weather cools in the high mountains of California, the small golden-mantled ground squirrel prepares for a winter’s hibernation. But do the clues for the cold winter ahead come from the temperature or from something internal, something in the animal itself. Eric T. Pengelley and Sally Asmundson capture pregnant females in the mountains and bring them back to the lab where they are raised in a controlled environment. Will the offspring who have never been outside, go into hibernation...
Topics: academic film, squirrels
Topics: academic film, squirrels
Explores the history, traditions and practices of the Lubavitch Hasidic Community of New York. Visits their synagogue, homes, school and other parts of their community. Incorporates Chabad - Hasidic - songs and melodies in the soundtrack
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Judaism, Lubavitch, Chabad
favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite ( 1 reviews )
Topics: Judaism, Lubavitch, Chabad
A Mexican-American who feels culturally deprived and unsure of his identity is shown his cultural heritage. Discusses Mexican history, how Spanish words, architecture, and music have become part of American culture, and the contributions of outstanding Mexican-Americans. Narrated by Ricardo Montalban, who makes a brief appearance. Several in director Leo Handel's personal circle had cameos in the film. His secretary Laura appears at 17:37, looking at clothing. Her successor, Carol Nocella is...
Topics: Mexican-American, Chicano, culture
Topics: Mexican-American, Chicano, culture
Fetching more results
DESCRIPTION
The mission of The Academic Film Archive of North America (AFA) is to acquire, preserve, document, and promote academic film by providing an archive, resource, and forum for continuing scholarly advancement and public exhibition. The AFA defines academic film as any film in the broad subject areas of the Humanities and Sciences which were sold into secondary school, university, and public libraries. Such films might have been made by educational film companies, television networks, non-profit organizations, business entities, or other institutions making films with the intent to educate. The AFA is the only institution in the U.S. dedicated to documenting the history of this imprtant film genre, now endangered by the movement by many media libraries to divest their film collections. The AFA also engages in special research projects, and documents and collects films that consist of rare or unusual material relating to social conventions and mores.
The AFA's holdings consist of approximately 6,000 16mm films. A recent audit indicated that approximately 12% of the AFA's collection consists of films that are no longer in distribution.
The objective of the Academic Film Archive as it relates to the Internet Archive is to provide public access to films that are no longer in distribution, thereby contributing significantly to the history of film, society, and education.
Please click www.afana.org for more information including biographies and filmographies of significant academic filmmakers.
RIGHTS
These films are free to view, but no rights of any kind are granted to those who view them. If you would like rights to use or reuse these films, please contact the Academic Film Archive of North America who can put you in touch with the rights holders. Collection Info
- Addeddate
- 2007-07-31 19:40:20
- Collection
- culturalandacademicfilms
movies
- Identifier
- academic_films
- Mediatype
- collection
- Publicdate
- 2007-07-31 19:40:45
- Spotlight_identifier
- shaw_vs_shakespeare_1
- Title
- Academic Film Archive of North America
Created on
July 31
2007
2007
ewingrr
Member
Member
DISCONTINUED VIEWS
Total Views 1,871,579
ITEMS
Total Items 392
TOP REGIONS (LAST 30 DAYS)
(data not available)
