From The Archive

Beginning Responsibility: A Lunchroom Goes Bananas (1978)

A revised version of the film Beginning Responsibility – Lunchroom Manners. Shows how the food at a school cafeteria goes on strike to protest the poor lunchroom manners of the children. Explains that after the banana issues an ultimatum, the students take positive steps to improve their manners.

This film is available on Cafeteria Capers DVD-R

From The Archive

Great American Chocolate Factory, The

A fascinating look at how milk chocolate is made. This film came to the AV Geeks archive by way of a Pennsylvania public school film library.

This film is available on the Food 2: The Leftovers DVD

From The Archive

How To Be a Proud American (Again)…

Given recent election results, many of us are gearing up to be proud to again say that they are Americans but are a little rusty. The A/V Geeks pull from their 16mm archive, films that remind us how to be good citizens and how our contributions can make the country great. Films include:  200, The Preamble, Patriotism, Are You A Good Citizen? and more.

From The Archive

Angry Night

Educational films that teach us about anger and how much fun
it can be! Films include – I’m Mad At Me, Angry Night,The Aggressive Impulse,
Mr Finley’s Feelings, Oops I Made A Mistake, It’s Not Much Fun Being Angry,
Getting Angry and more!

From The Archive

Bikes Bikes Bikes

A bike spells freedom to a kid, and fear to parents. These
films try to get kids to be responsible – spoiling all the fun. Films included:
Bicycle Safety, Bicycle Clown, One Got Fat, The Day the Bicycles Disappeared,
African Odyssey: The Red Bicycle and The Bike.

From The Archive

Get’em at the A/V Geeks Store!

How To Be A Man

For centuries, parents have struggled to usher their children through the magical, often treacherous, journey to adulthood. But in mid-century America, a new form of tutelage was engineered: the classroom film. Suddenly, the prickly issues of sexual development and juvenile delinquency could be addressed in tidy, ten-minute sermons disguised as dramas. To deal with the subtleties of behavior and the importance of fitting in, social guidance films were made on such topics as coping with failure (Planning For Success) and teasing (The Other Fellow’s Feelings). The films in this collection-curated and introduced by Skip Elsheimer, founder of the A/V Geeks educational film archive sample some of the lessons that were routinely taught to boys. In them, one sees slices of Americana, discovers the world of educational cinema (with a language all its own), and gains an insight into the hopes and fears of the parents and educators who relied on the power of cinema to initiate, educate and indoctrinate the young.

How To Be A Woman

As the daughters of the baby boom reached adolescence, the American school system struggled to educate them on matters of sexual and social development lessons that were not always being taught at home. To the teacher uncomfortable with such topics, classroom films were a godsend. They depicted the reproductive system in anatomical detail (Growing Girls) or through puzzling symbolism (The Wonders of Reproduction, produced by the Moody Institute of Science). Beyond sex education, classroom films addressed a wide array of social issues, from the importance of cooking skills (You’re the Judge, starring a young Bonnie Franklin), to self-defense (Attack) and how to appear more pleasing to others (Improve Your Personality). Often corny, sometimes frightening, these cinematic life lessons curated and introduced by Skip Elsheimer, founder of the A/V Geeks educational film archive provide a fascinating window to the hopes and fears of parents and educators in mid-century America.