Ephemera
see all genres ›Ephemeral cinema refers to films produced outside the conventional contexts of art and entertainment: home movies, advertising, newsreels, industrial and educational shorts.
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Genres / Short / Ephemera
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The Smell of Burning Ants
THE SMELL OF BURNING ANTS is a haunting documentary on the pains of growing up male. It explores the inner and outer cruelties that boys perpetrate and endure. The film provokes the viewer to reflect on how our society can deprive boys of wholeness. Through formative events of...Watch Movie
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As Boys Grow
"Puberty's a lotta things!" chirps track coach Gene Douglas in this sex education short whose juvenile actors were cast from the Boys Clubs of San Francisco. Handily armed with illustrative charts, he answers his curious charges' questions on everything from shaving to nocturnal emissions to how...Watch Movie
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The Wonders of Magnetism
A science film meant for educational use. These carefully staged and often elaborate classroom demonstrations subtly remind us of Edison's own technological achievements. As Moving Picture World remarked, "An educational film which is full of interest, illustrating the two...Watch Movie
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RocketKitKongoKit
This kaleidoscopic, amphetamine-paced tour de force uses a barrage of found-footage images and rapid-fire narration to trace a history of Zaire since its independence in 1960. The CIA, German munitions manufacturers and American popular culture are all indicted in this comic...Watch Movie
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Wild Gunman
Mobilizing wildly diverse found-footage fragments, obsessive optical printing and a dense "musique concrete" soundtrack, a maniac montage of pop-cultural amusements, cowboy iconography and advertising imagery is re-contextualized within the contemporary geopolitical crisis in this scathing...Watch Movie
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Drug Attack
This world-class 1960s time capsule is almost entirely composed of rapidly edited stills showing ordinary life (working, playing, driving, shopping) set to groovy instrumental music. At a certain point, however, the focus shifts to youth life, complete with Be-Ins and drug busts. It is clear that...Watch Movie
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Lucy
This cautionary tale of New Jersey-accented everygirl Lucy is surprisingly sophisticated and non-judgmental in its take on teenage pregnancy. "It all started when I met Joe. We dug each other right away," she tells us, recalling that cutting school to make out was "our first mistake." Pretty soon...Watch Movie
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A Case of Beer
Subtitled "A Major Minor Dilemna," this short was designed to educate retailers (especially convenience-store staff) who might be fined, lose their alcohol license or even be sent to jail if caught selling booze to the under-aged. We see various ruses the young use to try scoring some sauce, from...Watch Movie
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Mike Makes His Mark
Several years before James Dean patented the type in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, leather-jacketed, gum-chewing Mike here is a cute malcontent who just needs a little understanding to straighten up and fly right. Secretly worried he'll be "trapped into making his decisions against...Watch Movie
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Fears of Children
Why are children afraid? Where do their fears come from? In FEARS OF CHILDREN, a young boy is afraid. His parents have difficulties with his fear. In turn, their son unexpectedly resolves these issues in unusual way. It is the 1950s after all. Things were different then. Or...Watch Movie
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Hors-d'oeuvre
HORS-D'OEUVRE is a collection of one-minute cartoons produced by National Film Board of Canada animators for government sponsors. Showcasing a playful selection of animation techniques, the clips include reminders about television programs, traffic safety rules, and admonitions from the...Watch Movie
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From Rugs to Riches
Ever wondered about rugs? Ever wondered about how to sell a rug? If so, as a rug salesperson, did you ever wonder how to sell more rugs? More rugs than ever before? In this training film for Caprolan nylon rugs, the great Jonathan Winters shows sales-folks how to do their job...Watch Movie
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Civil Defense in School
"The threat of disaster is never pleasant," our narrator begins. But the old perils like tornados and fires are nothing compared to those looming in "the age of the atom." This alarming short from the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization barely stops short of recommending...Watch Movie
