Research Guides: Film & Cinema Research Guide: Streaming Videos

Best Bets for Finding Streaming Video

Streaming Video Databases & Collections from the Library + the Internet!

ARTIC login required for many resources on this list. See all Flaxman Library streaming video options available at this link. For a list of many free options, see the Open Access Streaming Videos page linked here.

American Archive of Public Broadcasting This link opens in a new window
Free multi-station archive of a lot of PBS material from years back. Does not include all PBS content.
Art21 This link opens in a new window
Contemporary artists in their own words, series illuminates their processes, practice, works, studios, philosophy, and more.
Art Vérité Film Library This link opens in a new window
The Art Vérite Film Library includes an original collection of innovative educational documentaries for university art programs, law schools, artists' organizations, and professionals connected to the contemporary art world. The art stories offer unprecedented positioning beyond bringing awareness to push the boundaries of learning and equip viewers to become more potent in their professions.
Asian Film Online This link opens in a new window
More than 1,000 narrative feature films, documentaries, and shorts. Works selected by Asian film experts explore themes of modernity, globalization, national identity, female agency, inequalities in opportunity amid social and political unrest, and cultural and sexual identity—are central to any meaningful discussion of Asian culture.
Black Studies in Video (North America) This link opens in a new window
Includes documentaries on leading artists, writers, musicians, playwrights, and performers. Includes the Hatch-Billops Collection, archive of primary and secondary materials focused on black American art, drama, and literature. Plus the SNCC archives, the NAACP archives, and archives from select Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Bloomsbury Fashion Video Archive This link opens in a new window
Nearly 3,000 fashion videos from the YOOX-NET-A-PORTER Runway Archive Collections, this documents 1979 to 2003. No audio provided.
CABIN FEVER: Experimental Film Playlist This link opens in a new window
Playlist of free online experimental films & videos for coping with COVID-19.
Docuseek2 Streaming This link opens in a new window
Streaming video collection of documentary films from Kartemquin Films, Collective Eye, Fanlight.com, ScorpionTV, Bullfrog Films, Icarus Films and other distributors.
EAI: Electronic Arts Intermix Educational Streaming This link opens in a new window
Covers mid-1960s to the present, and is one of the most comprehensive video art collections. The works include pioneering figures, e.g. Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, Martha Rosler, Joan Jonas, to new digital works by emerging artists, e.g. Seth Price, Paper Rad, Cory Arcangel and Takeshi Murata.
Filmakers Library Online This link opens in a new window
Award-winning documentaries with relevance across the curriculum—race and gender studies, human rights, global studies, multiculturalism, international relations, criminal justice, the environment, bioethics, health, political science and current events, psychology, arts, literature, and more.
Franklin Furnace Moving Image Collection This link opens in a new window
Audiovisual documentation of art events and performance art presented or supported by Franklin Furnace. Open Access.

Internet Archive Free Feature Films
Over 5000 films from television, independent, international and Hollywood producers.

Kanopy Streaming This link opens in a new window
Tip: Videos play best only in Firefox, Safari, IE, for embedding videos (may not load in Chrome). Curated collection from independent and international producers including selections from Criterion, Michael Blackwood and others.
Library of Congress National Film Registry This link opens in a new window
Broad range of historical and cultural documents that contribute to education and lifelong learning that are earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress. Majority are freely available as both 5mb MP4 and ProRes 422 MOV downloads.
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) This link opens in a new window
Video-based tutorials on a wide range of software, including: 3D, video, photography, web design, graphic design, and more; all organized by subject software, and instructor.
National Screening Room This link opens in a new window
Broad range of historical and cultural documents that contribute to education and lifelong learning that are earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress. Majority are freely available as both 5mb MP4 and ProRes 422 MOV downloads.
New World Cinema: Independent Features & Shorts This link opens in a new window
Streaming video collection of approximately 200 full-length feature films from leading independent distributors such as Kino Lorber, First Run Features, Film Movement, MK2, and the Global Films Initiative, along with some fifty award-winning shorts.
OnArchitecture This link opens in a new window
Over 600 original videos examining major worldwide trends and personalities in architecture today. Includes interviews, documentation of buildings and installations, along with supporting materials about the main authors and figures of contemporary architecture.
OntheBoards.tv This link opens in a new window
HD-quality contemporary performance films. Filmed at On the Boards, as well as peer theaters across the country, the performances present a snapshot of the best new works by current leaders in dance, theater and music.
Opera in Video This link opens in a new window
Five hundred hours of important opera performances, captured on video through staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Selections represent the world’s best performers, conductors, and opera houses and are based on a work’s importance to the operatic canon.
Panopto Video Library (SAIC Videos) This link opens in a new window
This SAIC-hosted video platform features major contemporary artists, many of whom have visited or are part of the SAIC community. It includes works from: Visiting Artists Program, Video Data Bank, Conversations at the Edge, Flaxman Library, Photography Parlor Room, Painting and Drawing, Fiber and Material Studies, the Fashion Resource Center, and more.
Projectr EDU This link opens in a new window
A curated and ever-expanding collection of independent, international and documentary films that amplify diverse, daring, and underrepresented voices from around the world.
Silent Film Online This link opens in a new window
250+ films in streaming video that represent the foundation of modern cinematic technique and film theory, covering silent feature films, serials, and shorts from the 1890s to the 1930s.
Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new window
Curated collection of streaming videos including a number of classic and contemporary popular films largely from Hollywood studios and producers.
Video Data Bank (VDB) This link opens in a new window
VDB's educational streaming platform provides access to all the videos available for streaming in its collection of contemporary video and media art (ARTIC login required).
Visiting Artist Program (VAP) This link opens in a new window
SAIC's Visiting Artists' Program lecture series. Available to SAICers with ARTIC username and password.

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Best Bets for Finding Streaming Video

Streaming Video Databases & Collections from the Library + the Internet!