National Archives Documentaries & Videos

On July 20th, 1969, the Apollo 11 landed on the moon carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins. This 30-minute 1969 documentary from the National Archives depicts the Apollo 11 mission from launching through post-recovery activities.

Dan Rather interviewed by Cokie Roberts at the National Archives discussing his book "Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News."

This film is an edited version of a symposium held at Boston University on November 20, 1972 that explores the implications of the possible existence of extraterrestrial life within the galaxy and the universe.

In this motion picture film, Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Joseph Mankiewicz, James Baldwin and David Schoenbrun discuss the Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963.

This film presents President John F. Kennedy stating in 1961 that "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth."

Women journalists have impacted the reporting and editing of our nations news. What are the challenges they have faced? And what has changed in the roles, expectations, opportunities, and obstacles for women in American journalism?

This film is a film biography of Astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.

The Battle of San Pietro is a documentary film directed by John Huston about the Battle of San Pietro Infine sixty miles from Naples during World War II. It was shot by Jules Buck. It was released in the U.S. in 1945 but shown to U.S. troops earlier.

This film summarizes the exploration of the Moon conducted through unmanned Ranger, Surveyor and Lunar Orbiter spacecraft...

Why We Fight is a series of seven documentary films commissioned by the United States government during World War II whose purpose was to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war.