Mississippi River ravaged by unsustainable farming. TVA project offers hope for healing.

Pare Lorentz's 1938 documentary, The River, chronicles the story of the Mississippi River, weaving together historical footage, stunning cinematography, and a powerful narration. At the same time, The River ...

Fred Ott, Edison's assistant, pinches snuff & sneezes in history's 1st copyrighted film.

Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), also known as "Fred Ott's Sneeze," is among the earliest surviving copyrighted motion pictures. While seemingly simple, this work by William K.L. Dickson for th...

1910 film captures epic boxing match, reflecting racial tensions.

The Jeffries-Johnson World's Championship Boxing Contest isn't just a record of a historic fight. Unlike the staged boxing films popular at the time, this documentary captured the rawness and energy of a real bout.

Filmmakers dep...

Life in 1940's Spanish Harlem. Playful children, community moments, hints of social realities.

Unlike classical documentaries that aimed for objectivity, In the Street (1948) embraces a subjective view. Filmed on inconspicuous 16mm cameras, directors Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, and James Agee ca...

A captivating, silent journey through San Francisco, days before the devastating 1906 earthquake.

A Trip Down Market Street (1906) captures the bustling life of San Francisco's main thoroughfare with an innovative approach placing it firmly as a pioneer of experimental film.

Firstly, the film u...

Kwakwaka'wakw chief's son battles sorcerer for love, showcasing both culture & fictional drama.

While a silent dramatization of Kwakwaka'wakw culture, In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914) breaks ground in several ways. It features an entirely Indigenous cast, a rarity for the time. The film in...

NYC theatre vanishes in stunning time-lapse. Walls fall, beams lift, then magically rebuild.

This short film, a silent marvel from 1901, captures the demolition of New York City's Star Theatre using a groundbreaking technique: time-lapse photography.

Director F.S. Armitage, taking advantage of ...

Breathtaking visuals showcase river crossings, mountain climbs, and a nomadic tribe's resilience.

Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925) stands out not only as a captivating documentary but also as an early experiment in ethnographic filmmaking. Unlike staged travelogues of the era, directors...

1908 film shows Crow life. Valuable footage, but colonial lens raises questions.

Led by Joseph K. Dixon and sponsored by department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker, The Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1909) aimed to capture a vanishing Native American way of life on Montana's Crow Rese...

A fast-paced trip down the river, showing off scenery & riverside industry in a blink.

While Down the Hudson (1903), a seemingly simple travelogue, captures a trip down the Hudson River, the way it does so challenges traditional filmmaking techniques.

The film utilizes a sped-up effect, achiev...

Witness the early days of this revolutionary transit system, a glimpse into 1905 New York life.

Filmed by G.W. Bitzer just seven months after the New York City subway's inauguration, Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905) takes viewers on a novel journey beneath Manhattan's ...

Ferry to sunset, skyscrapers to streets, a love letter to urban dynamism.

Manhatta (1921), a collaboration between photographer Paul Strand and painter Charles Sheeler, abandons traditional narrative structure, instead presenting a series of 65 carefully composed shots that capture the dynamism ...

Soviet city life unfolds through a cameraman's lens, in a silent symphony of editing techniques.

Directed by Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera (1929) explodes the traditional structure of filmmaking. Instead of a narrative or staged scenes, Vertov presents a symphony of Soviet life captured ...

Deaf activist signs for ASL preservation, fighting "oralism" in education.

Unlike traditional films that rely on spoken dialogue or title cards, Preservation of the Sign Language, a silent film from 1913 by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), uses American Sign Language (ASL) as its sole...

Montage blends documentary & avant-garde styles. Kids play, vendors sell, families bustle. A Bronx Morning (1931) is a brief yet captivating glimpse into a New York borough awakening.

Created by a young Jay Leyda, the film transcends a straightforward documentary approach. While capturing the si...

A silent documentary showcasing the devastation of the 1906 disaster.

Produced shortly after the devastating earthquake and fire, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18 (1906) embodies the earliest spirit of experimental filmmaking.

While it documents the aftermath of the disaster, the fi...

Blends documentary and drama to depict Inuit life in Canada.

While presented as a documentary chronicling the life of Inuk hunter Nanook and his family in the Canadian Arctic, Robert Flaherty's 1922 silent film, Nanook of the North (1922), blurs the lines between documentary and staged reality. ...

A portrayal of the dedication & impact of nurses bringing healthcare to Appalachian communities.

The Forgotten Frontier (1931), a documentary by Mary Marvin Breckinridge documenting the vital work of the Frontier Nursing Service in the Appalachian Mountains, blends documentary elements with ree...

Showcases culture in late 1930's Bali but criticized for omitting context and focusing on spectacle.

Trance and Dance in Bali, a 1951 documentary by Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, is a pioneering ethnographic film. It documents a traditional Balinese ritual dance while the filmmakers employ ...

Parade thrills crowds in Indianapolis. Elephants, camels, & lions captivate onlookers.

The 1902 silent film Ringling Bros. Circus Parade offers a fascinating viewpoint into the earliest days of filmmaking. Though a short actuality film simply capturing a parade, it holds historical and cultural...

Educational film explores menstruation, its biology and social stigmas, breaking taboos in 1946.

Walt Disney's 1946 film The Story of Menstruation takes an unconventional approach to health education. Commissioned by a feminine hygiene company, the film aimed to educate young girls about menstru...

1897 boxing bout filmed live, considered 1st feature film despite missing footage.

While audiences today are accustomed to feature-length films, the Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight (1897) was a revelation for its time in film history. Capturing the entirety of a heavyweight boxing championship, this ...

3 houses face atomic blast. Clean home survives, raising ethical questions.

Produced for the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association and the Federal Civil Defense Administration, The House in the Middle (1954) uses unconventional tactics to deliver a very specific message.

While not ex...

A family challenges Depression-era stereotypes with their comfortable life & intellectual pursuits.

Created with consumer-grade equipment by a non-professional filmmaker, Wallace Kelly's 1938 silent film, Our Day, offers a glimpse into American home movie making before the widespread adoption o...