An anthology of films from 18 American film archives. Films include documentaries, newsreels, the earliest American movies, avant-garde and independent works, pioneering special effects, amateur and home movies, animated and industrial films, and silent movies from the earliest years of motion pictures (1893-1985).

Publisher: [San Francisco] : National Film Preservation Foundation ; [Los Angeles] : Distributed exclusively by Image Entertainment, c2000.

Format: DVD; Dolby digital stereo. : 4 videodiscs (642 min.) : sd., chiefly b&w with some col. ; 4 3/4 in. +

Notes: "This DVD set is made possible through Treasures of American Film Archives, a Millenium Project supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts and organized by the National Film Preservation Foundation."
The accompanying Program notes book contains details about the contents of each disc, including a summary of each film, history and preservation information, and bibliographic references (all of which is also available on screen).

Languages: English, Yiddish, Spanish

Contents: Program 1. The original movie -- Early films from the Edison Company. Blacksmithing ; The gay shoe clerk ; Three American beauties --Princess Nicotine, or, The Smoke Fairy -- The Confederate ironclad -- Hell's hinges -- The fall of the House of Usher -- From Groucho Marx's home movies -- Running around San Francisco for an education -- From Tevye -- Cologne : from the diary of Ray and Esther -- Private Snafu : spies -- OffOn. Program 2. Paper print copyright deposits. Demolishing and building up Star Theatre ; Move on ; Dog factory -- The Lonedale operator -- Her crowning glory -- The toll of the sea -- From Accuracy -- From West Virginia documentaries. From West Virginia, the state beautiful ; From One-room schoolhouses -- From Early amateur sound film -- Composition 1 (Themis) -- The battle of San Pietro -- Negro Leagues Baseball -- Battery film. Program 3. The thieving hand -- White Fawn's devotion -- The Chechahcos -- From Japanese-American communities -- From Rare aviation films. From The Keystone "Patrician" ; From The Zeppelin Hindenburg -- We work again -- From La valse -- The wall -- George Dumpson's place. Program 4. Peepshow kinetoscopes from 1894. Luis Martinetti, contortionist ; Caicedo, king of the slack wire -- Interior New York subway, 14th St. to 42nd St. -- The land beyond the sunset -- I'm insured -- Snow White -- From Beautiful Japan -- From rural life in Maine -- The news parade of 1934 -- The autobiography of a Jeep -- From Marian Anderson : the Lincoln Memorial concert.

Cast: Narrator for "About the Archives:" Laurence Fishburne.

Crew: Technical director, Michael Friend; piano performed by Martin Marks; additional music performed by John McKay ... [et al.].

Contributors: Martin Miller Marks (), Scott Simmon ()

Subject(s):	Motion pictures -- United States -- History.
	Motion pictures.