The Magnificent Rebel

Early Edison short showing two men fencing.

A man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the second motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.

Annabelle (Whitford) Moore performs one of her popular dances. For this performance, her costume has a pair of wings attached to her back, to suggest a butterfly. As she dances, she uses her long, flowing skirts to create visual patterns.

A documentary from Universal about the movie "The Invisible Man" (1933) directed by James Whale.

Actor Errol Flynn takes a group of scientists from the California Institute of Oceanography on an expedition to the South Seas aboard his schooner, The Zaca.

The life of Italian Brazilian ethnographic and stage photographer Emidio Luisi, through testimonies of friends and colleagues, and the showing of his works.

Several African immigrants living in Spain speak openly about female genital mutilation.

The last remaining film of Le Prince's LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera is a sequence of frames of his son, Adolphe Le Prince, playing a diatonic button accordion. It was recorded on the steps of the house of Joseph Whitley, Adolphe's grandfather.

This film illustrates the history of the St. Lawrence river. From prehistoric times on, it has been a magnificent source of life. The film covers the impact of humanity beginning with the careful relationship with the Native Americans. This soon changes with the arrival of Europeans who begin the insatiable exploitation that would led to the river's damage, creating a situation that we must resolve for all our sakes.

Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.

Three friends are playing cards in a beer garden. One of them orders drinks. The waitress comes back with a bottle of wine and three glasses on a tray. The man serves his friends. They clink glasses and drink. Then the man asks for a newspaper. He reads a funny story in it and the three friends burst out laughing while the waitress merely smiles.

See Yellowstone National Park: Grizzlies, geysers, rivers, canyons and, of course, moose. The history of Yellowstone National Park is vividly portrayed in this memorable film, from the Tukudika Tribe, the earliest known inhabitants, to the early explorers including John Colter, a member of the Lewis & Clark party. Also portrayed are Wilson Hunt, who deemed the west unfit for habitation, Father Francis Kuppens, a Jesuit priest in pursuit of native souls, and the Washburn Expedition, instrumental in establishing Yellowstone as America’s first national park.

This short film is Godard’s message to the people of Lausanne, specifically journalist and critic Freddy Buache, addressing his reasons why he will not make a film about their town’s 500th anniversary. Rather than cynical or defensive, Godard's bemused narration of the footage of Lausanne is imaginative and even playful, a rumination on cinema's possibilities.

A journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her two seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home.

Belfast firefighters demonstrate a ladder.

Many demonstrations of the art of Jiu Jitsu are given, and as evidence that this is not a passing fad intended only for the amusement of the public there is illustrated in very thrilling manner how several footpads follow two girls and then in a deserted section of the road make an attack, which is successfully foiled and the perpetrators taken into custody. Splendid action and good photographic quality. (Gaumont catalogue)

Auschwitz is synonymous with the Holocaust, but it’s also a place on the map with a surprising history preceding World War II. Narrated by Meryl Streep, this short documentary tells the story of Auschwitz, from its construction to its infamy.

An experimental short about the relationship between music and color.

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.

“This film is remarkable in several respects. In the first place, it is full life-size. Secondly, it is the only accurate recent portrait of the great inventor. The scene is an actual one, showing Mr. Edison in working dress engaged in an interesting chemical experiment in his great Laboratory. There is sufficient movement to lead the spectator through the several processes of mixing, pouring, testing, etc. as if he were side by side with the principal. The lights and shadows are vivid, and the apparatus and other accessories complete a startling picture that will appeal to every beholder.” (Edison Catalog)