Ephemeral films are produced for specific purposes at specific times. The genre includes educational, industrial, advertising, and amateur films aimed at promoting ideas, corporations, or products.

Suggested resources

American Memory Motion Picture Collection
Coverage: 1894-1999
Collection includes over 700 films digitized by the Library of Congress.

Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive
Collection of over 1,200 films from the Prelinger Archive documenting everyday life, culture, industry, and institutions in the United States from 1927 to the present.