Encyclopædia Britannica Films

Every year, on June 27th, in a small village in New England, inhabited by no more than 300 people, a lottery is held in which a family is chosen as part of a ritual to ensure a good harvest.

John Canaday analyzes the place of art among the humanities as an expression of man's attempt to define what it means to be a human being. Mr. Canaday shows how the masterworks of art and architecture have formed a visual history of man's thought, ideals, and most fondly-held beliefs.

A romantic tale of a young married couple who have little money to buy each other Christmas presents. And so she cuts off and sells her beautiful hair.

Marty, a "good boy," experiments with marijuana and experiences "profound mental and emotional disturbances." As in all anti-drug films of this vintage, marijuana leads straight to "H," and Marty's decline continues until he is busted, rehabbed and reformed. Drug Addiction's stilted view of the urban drug culture and unrealistic portrayals of stoned slackers make it entertaining viewing today. It belongs to that little-known "second wave" of anti-drug films, the postwar scare stories about middle-class kids overcome by junkiedom. What this wave of films reveals is that drugs were an issue for white adolescents long before the psychedelic Sixties, and that the official response to the threat expressed a general, not specifically targeted paranoia.

This movie starts with a Mother and her two children nonchalantly going to the window when someone knocks on the window. Shouldn't they be on their guard? And what good is their huge German Shepherd Shep? But wait! It's only Dad! Silly man! He's brought home Halloween stuff! Junior makes a truly hideous mask from a paper bag and sets it in the lamp to make it look more ominous. (archive.org)

Deals with the Old Testament as a collection of literary forms. Combines paintings with narrative sculptures to relate the saga of the creation, the expulsion from Eden, and the murder of Abel

Bartleby, an enigmatic man who calmly refuses to carry out his duties, is introduced in this period dramatization of Melville’s haunting story as a scrivener in a 1969 film production of Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation.

An introduction to Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist. A world poet-a latter-day successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare.

In this quiet, naturalistic dramatic short, six-year old Sarah grapples with understanding mortality after the sudden death of her older brother, David. With the help of her family, she gradually learns how to process his passing and cope with her grief. Written, produced, and directed by Jackie Rivet-River, this short film for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films was awarded the Silver Hugo prize at the Chicago International Film Festival, as well as 12 additional awards internationally.

Follows the Pilgrims from England to Holland and to New England. Discusses the Mayflower compact and the hardships in the New World.

short from of Series “The Art of silence: pantomimes with Marcel Marceau and his partner Pierre Verry”. Mime makes the invisible visible and the visible invisible. Marceau’s sometimes comical - but always graceful - interpretation of The Painter in Central Park allows the viewer to “see” objects which are not there.

One in a series of twelve films in which the great French mime Marcel Marceau performs some works from his repertoire. In his introduction he describes this pantomime as having a theme that goes beyond time, an allegory showing a man trying to escape an enclosure of invisible walls. He also suggests that it stands for our freedom of choice, stating that for the limited span of our life on earth, we must struggle for the enlightenment of humanity and search for a way out of the cage

Describes the making of a puppet in detail from the carving of the head to the fitting of the strings. Close-ups show how the movements of the various limbs are achieved and finally the film portrays a brief episode in the story of Hansel and Gretel.

Hosted by Ubud's political leader Agung Jakarta Sulawesi Mas, William Deneen here visits important sites and describes the political, religious, and economic situation on the island of Bali in the Indonesia of 1959.

Dramatization short on British romantic poet John Keats.

Heroin anti-drug educational film

Pat Morita hosts another entry in the Britannica's tales around the world series. This one covers the classic fairytale story of Cinderella.

Presents an overview of Pakistan--its geographic and climatic features, its methods of agricultural and industrial production, and its modes of travel.

A family goes to the local fair to compete with their livestock & produce.

"Based on the exhibition "Photography and the city", designed by the Eames Office for the Smithsonian Institute". A primer on the modern problems of and future solutions to growing cities.