Woman Draped in Patterned Handkerchiefs

Nanook of the North

June 1922 •English

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Budapest : cortège du sceptre royal

June 1896 •French

These two views were taken during the celebrations given in 1896 on the occasion of the millennium of the foundation of the kingdom of Hungary. Horsemen and men on foot parade, all dressed in historic uniforms.

La remise des décorations

April 1903 •French

Censored!

December 1999 •English

A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America.

The Heart of 'The Natural'

April 2001 •Dutch

The People's Land

January 1943 •English

A short documentary about the work of the National Trust in Great Britain

The Way to the Sea

September 1936 •English

A 1936 documentary film about the London to Portsmouth railway. A lesser known contemporary of Night Mail, also featuring the music of Benjamin Britten and poetry of W.H. Auden.

Spiders on a Web

August 1900 •English

Consisting of a single shot, Spiders on a Web is one of the earliest British examples of close-up natural history photography. Made by one of the pioneers of the British film industry, G.A. Smith, this short film details spiders trapped in an enclosure, and despite the title, does not actually feature a web.

Danse Serpentine (In a Lion's Cage)

August 1900 •French

Madame Ondine performs a serpentine dance surrounded by big cats.

Ten Minutes of Silence

November 1997 •Russian

The mute documentary-experimental film "Ten Minutes of Silence" is a film expression of the trends embodied in the painting "Black Square" by Malevich and J. Cage in music.

Récréation à la Martinière

May 1896 •French

Students in Lyon.

Among Wild Birds

November 1927 •

Finland’s first nature documentary. The filmmakers’ expedition leads them all the way to the Åland Islands and the Karelian Isthmus.

The Epic of Everest

December 1924 •English

The official record of Mallory and Irvine's 1924 expedition. When George Mallory and Sandy Irvine attempted to reach the summit of Everest in 1924 they came closer than any previous attempt. Inspired by the work of Herbert Ponting (The Great White Silence) Captain Noel filmed in the harshest of conditions, with specially adapted equipment, to capture the drama of the fateful expedition.

Grandma Despina

November 1905 •Macedonian

This scene is a part of the very first film shot produced by the Manaki Brothers. Despina, the Janaki and Milton Manaki's grandmother, was recorded weaving in one high-angle shot. For no apparent reason, the first shot made in Macedonia, in the Balkans in fact, made by these two cinematography pioneers, contains peculiar symbolics: at the moment when the grandmother Despina spins the weaving wheel, film starts rolling in our country.

Girls Taking Time Checks

April 1904 •English

Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.

La Palestine en 1896

January 1897 •French

Lumière's documents life in Palestine.

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

September 1998 •English

Alaska... Here, in this vast and spectacularly beautiful land teeming with abundant wildlife, discover the "Spirit of the Wild." Experience it in the explosive calving of glaciers, the celestial fires of the Aurora Borealis. Witness it in the thundering stampede of caribou, the beauty of the polar bear and the stealthful, deadly hunt of the wolf pack.

Amazon

January 1997 •English

Explore the mysterious Amazon through the amazing IMAX experience. Amazon celebrates the beauty, vitality and wonder of the rapidly disappearing rain forest.

Cosmic Voyage

August 1996 •English

The Academy Award® nominee Cosmic Voyage combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting this journey is a "cosmic zoom" based on the powers of 10, extending from the Earth to the largest observable structures in the universe, and then back to the subnuclear realm.

Butterfly Dance

August 1896 •English

A very graceful dance with voluminous draperies, by Annabelle Moore, well-known on the metropolitan stage.