California's Golden Beginning
β 9 Β· 1948 Β· 16m Β· Documentary
A description and enactment of the discovery of gold by James Marshall, and the role played by John Sutter. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
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Fighting the Fire Bomb
1941 Β· β 8
Documentary short explaining proper techniques for handling and disposal of incendiary bombs. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, from the Academy War Film Collection, in 2009.
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Manzanar
1972 Β· β 6
Short film about the Manzanar Japanese American internment camp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
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Devil's Gate
2011 Β· β 5
Footage of Devil's Gate Dam insterspersed with text occultist text by Jack Parsons, co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who some believe opened a portal for dark energy nearby.
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Cal State Long Beach, CA, January 2020
2021 Β· β 5
A wordless portrait of sculptor Jessica Jackson Hutchins shows us the artist in the process of transforming clay into uncanny forms.
More info βAmerica's Hidden Weapon
1944 Β· β 9
Documentary short film demonstrating the way wartime farming measures in 1943 resulted in the greatest American food crop in history. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
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Los otros californios
2011 Β· β 5
Isolated in Mexican South Baja California desert, exciting and fragile, rancherΒ΄s life is showed by amazing as unknown characters.
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The Art Director
1949 Β· β 6.7
A film's art director is in charge of the set, from conception to construction to furnishing. This short film walks the viewer through art directors' responsibilities and the demands on their talents. They read a script carefully and design a set to capture the time and place, the social strata, and the mood. They must be scholars of the history of architecture, furnishings, and fashion. They choose the colors on a set in anticipation of the lighting and the mood. Their work also sets styles, from Art Deco in the 20's to 30s modernism. Then it's on to the next project. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
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Hoop Dreams
1994 Β· β 7.6
Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.
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Zodiac Killer Project
2025 Β· β 6.2
Against the backdrop of deserted spaces, a filmmaker explores his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary, delving into the true crime genre's inner workings at a saturation point.
More info βAlpine Zoos and You
2020
This moving, family documentary goes behind the scenes at The Big Bear Alpine Zoo, which is only one of two high elevation, Alpine Zoos in the United States.
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Chicken Real
1970 Β· β 7
One of Les Blank's industrial films, which follows a Holly Farms "broiler" chicken from factory incubation to the county fair barbecue pit. A hilarious, disturbing and surreal look at a large-scale chicken farm producing 156 million chickens a year! Film includes lots of chicken songs and music recorded live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
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