The Most Beautiful Girl

Window Water Baby Moving

August 1959 •English

On a winter's day, a woman stretches near a window then sits in a bathtub of water. She's happy. Her lover is nearby; there are close ups of her face, her pregnant belly, and his hands caressing her. She gives birth: we see the crowning of the baby's head, then the birth itself; we watch a pair of hands tie off and cut the umbilical cord. With the help of the attending hands, the mother expels the placenta. The infant, a baby girl, nurses. We return from time to time to the bath scene. By the end, dad's excited; mother and daughter rest. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

The Brain of Soviet Russia

April 1919 •Russian

This film shows the leaders of organizations that emerged after the Russian Revolution. It is the fragment of ‘Anniversary of the Revolution’ made by Vertov in 1918.

The Ascent of the Great Pyramid of Giza by Prince Leopold III

January 1923 •French

During his 1923 visit to Cairo, Prince Leopold III of Belgium climbed the Cheops pyramid. The film was shot by Tullio Chiarini, Italian photographer, cinematographer and correspondent in Cairo and Alexandria.

Procession of Supporters of Esperanto

January 1911 •Dutch

A parade of supporters of the constructed auxiliary language Esperanto, which is intended to be a universal second language for international communication, or "the international language". The word Esperanto translates into English as "one who hopes".

Neuropathology

February 1908 •Italian

Under the Law: The Hitchhike

January 1973 •English

After receiving an anonymous phone call, the cops pick up a young woman who is wandering around alone in the desert. She tells them that she was given a lift by a stranger, who abandoned her there. Or are there more sides to one story? Part of a series of scare movies called Under the Law, distributed by Disney in the 1970s.

Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story

July 2003 •English

How a community was betrayed by greed, political hypocrisy, and good intentions gone astray.

What to Do in a Gas Attack

January 1942 •English

Explains what war gas is, how it is used by the enemy, and how simple household items, such as bicarbonate of soda and bleaching solution, may be used to prevent casualties. (archive.org)

Great Barrier Reef

January 1981 •English

Mysterious and only superficially explored by generations of the native Aborigines, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's most extraordinary natural life systems. Twelve hundred miles long and made up of coral, it is the Earth's largest structure built by living things, in some places extending 120 miles into the sea. So many varieties of life call the reef home that more than a dozen species can be found within any square meter of its surface. This IMAX film brilliantly captures the visual splendor of this environment with splendid underwater photography typical of the format. Sharks, sea turtles, anemones, and the coral itself are the living subjects of the camera's probing eye. Overall, this documentary is a comprehensive look at this long-studied web of life that leaves a lasting impression of its depth and beauty.

Wolf Hunting in Russia

April 1910 •French

Russian hunters on horse and a pack of borzois hunt down and kill a wolf.

Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire

January 1985 •English

Greenaway's short documentary shows 26 bathrooms, each representing a letter of the alphabet.

The Evolution of the Enterprise

August 2009 •English

This is the story of the evolution of the starship "Enterprise".

Collision Point: The Race to Clean Up Space

February 2014 •English

No matter how clear the night sky is, no matter how many millions of stars are within view, looking up at the sky on a clear night still hides the halo of man-made debris around Earth that threatens the future of space exploration and endangers us all.

On the Sunny Side of the Street

December 1960 •Slovenian

The story of an artist who carves out cardboard silhouettes for small allowance on Tromostovje in Ljubljana.

The Making of 'The Incredibles'

March 2005 •English

The production of the movie, "The Incredibles," shot behind the scenes at Pixar Animation Studios.

Photographic Convention of 1898

January 1898 •English

Members of the photographic convention carrying tripods and cameras file past a waiting room on the deck of the Clyde steamer “Lady Rowena”. Members of party include Craig Annan, Mr. Harold Baker, Mrs. W. Baker and Mrs. Ralph Robinson.

Animated Hero Classics: Maccabees

December 2007 •English

In Jerusalem the temple was the Holy Place, a place that King David’s son had built for worship. The enemy of the Jews had destroyed this temple and the Greeks had begun to attack and ruin the sacred treasures previously used in temple ceremonies. The spirit of the faithful Jews was broken as they saw their world falling about them.

Incident in New Baghdad

April 2011 •English

U.S. Army veteran Ethan McCord recounts his life-changing experiences at the scene of one of the most notorious events of the Iraq War: the slaying of two Reuters journalists, along with a group of mostly unarmed men, on the streets of Baghdad by American attack helicopters in July 2007.

El Wingador

February 2012 •English

The filmmaker Errol Morris explores the excessive eating habits of a five-time champion of the Philadelphia Wing Bowl.

The Art of 'Making Up'

April 1900 •English

Kathryn Osterman, the well-known vaudeville comedienne, in a complete exposition of the methods of "making-up" the face for the stage. She shows the penciling of the eye-brows, blackening the eye lashes, rouging the lips, applying the grease paint and so forth. The work is done in a very dainty and interesting way. Only the head and shoulders of the subject are shown; the figure thus being very large. (AMB Picture Catalogue, 1902)