Let The Record Show: Archived Cinema

Through kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, this documentary odyssey explores the creative, musical, and spiritual journey of David Bowie.

As hip-hop turns 50, we revisit this essential document on one of the form’s essential artists, told entirely in his own words.

Pioneering Soviet filmmaker Esfir Shub uses rare archival footage from across Russia to illuminate an era of upheaval as Lenin and the Bolsheviks prepare for revolution.

Armenian director Artavazd Pelechian offers a singular, poetic meditation on nature using his distinctive technique of “distance montage.”

Painstakingly purloined from blockbuster films, this climate disaster epic finds ordinary people forced to choose between servitude in space and rebellion on Earth.

A deeply personal account of the incredible journey of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley from high school friends to superstars, told through never-before-seen footage and candid interviews.

Three made-for-TV movies about the Amy Fisher scandal are transformed into one meta-melodramatic mashup that’s both a scathing critique and celebration of early-90s tabloid culture.

Teasing apart the original performer-president’s role of a lifetime, this all-archival film follows Ronald Reagan’s rivalry with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

A wealth of photographs and home video footage, often shot by Summer herself, offer a rich window into the iconic artist’s life lived on the global stage.

The Philadelphia police’s bombing of the Black liberation group MOVE is told through news coverage and interviews in this found-footage film that unfolds like a devastating thriller.

Experience the tumultuous days following the Rodney King trial through stunning, rarely seen archival footage.

Short films use archival footage as a catalyst for self-discovery, a tribute to lost communities, a springboard to reexamine history, and more.

Fragments from theatrical feature films made by the gay adult film industry are transformed into a kaleidoscopic snapshot of urban gay culture in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Drawn exclusively from the BFI National Archive, this wide-ranging portrait of pre-independence India features some of the country’s earliest surviving film, gorgeous travelogs, home movies, and newsreels.