Academic Film Archive (AFANA)

The Academic Film Archive of North America

The Academic Film Archive of North America (AFANA) is comprised of over 7,400 16mm films and associated ephemera. AFANA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was incorporated in February 2001. Its programs have been in operation since October 1996 at which time it operated under the name "ciné16".

Of the more than 100,000 educational films made in North America between the early 1900s and approximately 1985, many of the most compelling were made in the fields of art, history, social science, literature, and science. These AFANA refers to as academic film, as opposed to guidance films, made in health, safety, civics, and other non-academic educational subject areas.

AFANA was accessioned by the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and the Film and Media Studies program at Johns Hopkins University in 2022 through the generosity of Geoff Alexander

 

Example Films

A parable about the consequences of being a bystander to evil, from a disturbing poem by Maurice Ogden, read by Herschel Bernardi. Shadows and shifting geometric planes lend a Chirico-like quality to Julian's animation. Great musical score by Serge Hovey.

Short detailing how the City of Baltimore overcame lethargy to launch a slum rehabilitation campaign. Received a Freedoms Foundation award in 1953. Director John Barnes made films for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, which produced and distributed The Baltimore Plan at the urging of the Fight Blight Fund.