Alaska Film Archives

[Finish glaze work]
[Finish glaze work]
Film contains close-up scenes of a 1976 Machetanz painting.
[Alaska Visitors Association film]
[Alaska Visitors Association film]
This 35mm film from the Alaska Visitors Association shows eagles, whales, rivers, sled dog teams, aerial views, mountains, seals, hills, forests, moose, sheep, caribou, geese, rivers, ducks, bears, a cruise ship, fish, Prince William Sound, totem poles, a blanket toss, Alaska Native peoples, recreational activities, and waterfalls. A narrator encourages people to visit Alaska following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
[1988 ivory carver; BIMA dredge at Nome]
[1988 ivory carver; BIMA dredge at Nome]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,005 numbered as Bacon 1-01 and titled "Eskimo carver with old bold [bow] drill: WP [workprint]-100 feet." AAF-20,005 has not yet been digitized - it is the workprint for AAF-20,006, which the filmmaker's original labeling scheme has numbered as Bacon 1-02 and titled, "1988 ivory carver with drill in mouth: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-100 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 1 - 3 Small Reels, 1 Large Reel - Kotzebue, Nome, Original reels and Work Prints. BIMA is a floating dredge. Huge dredge was digging up gold bearing sand off Nome. Also other shots of Nome on same reel, ivory carver Pat, close up of head shots of dogs, dog team packed with dogs, tourists panning for gold and riding dog sleds, breakwater, tug and barge coming into channel, Front Street of Nome, ivory shop cut in to ivory carver, downtown Nome, the Nugget Inn on Front Street of Nome, Dredge 5 working." [Note that this description does not entirely match actual footage on reels - it is likely that portions of this description were meant for AAF-20,084].
[Dredge, Nome]
[Dredge, Nome]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,084 numbered as Bacon 19-2, and it's titled, "Dredge: 600 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 19 - 2 Medium Reels - To do with the mining in Nome 1988." [Note that description information for AAF-20,008 was likely intended for AAF-20,083 -- AAF-20,084 as follows: "BIMA is a floating dredge. Huge dredge was digging up gold bearing sand off Nome. Also other shots of Nome on same reel, ivory carver Pat, close up of head shots of dogs, dog team packed with dogs, tourists panning for gold and riding dog sleds, breakwater, tug and barge coming into channel, Front Street of Nome, ivory shop cut in to ivory carver, downtown Nome, the Nugget Inn on Front Street of Nome, Dredge 5 working."]
[1988 ivory carver; BIMA dredge at Nome]
[1988 ivory carver; BIMA dredge at Nome]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,008 numbered as Bacon 1-04 and titled "BIMA dredge: ECN,ECL-1,200 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 1 - 3 Small Reels, 1 Large Reel - Kotzebue, Nome, Original reels and Work Prints. BIMA is a floating dredge. Huge dredge was digging up gold bearing sand off Nome. Also other shots of Nome on same reel, ivory carver Pat, close up of head shots of dogs, dog team packed with dogs, tourists panning for gold and riding dog sleds, breakwater, tug and barge coming into channel, Front Street of Nome, ivory shop cut in to ivory carver, downtown Nome, the Nugget Inn on Front Street of Nome, Dredge 5 working." [Note that this description does not entirely match actual footage on reels - it is likely that portions of this description were meant for AAF-20,084].
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,055 numbered as Bacon 12-2, and titled "Haines, Sue Silver Carver: 50 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Silver carver and more inside the Whale House..."
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,061 numbered as Bacon 12-9, and it's titled "Haines, Indian craft center, Carl Heinmiller: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-200 feet." See AAF-20,004 for an associated item originally labeled Bacon 12-5. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance. Whale House clan at Klukwan inside Whale House. Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch. Silver carver and more inside the Whale House. Miner gal with gold, air shots of Fort Seward in Haines, shots along the Lynn Canal, work in Indian Craft Center, fishing at Haines, people come there and fly fish. Chilkat River, Klukwan Village."
[Kotzebue]
[Kotzebue]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,085 numbered as Bacon 20-1, and it's titled "Kotzebue, fish camp, museum drummers, blanket toss, ivory carver, tundra, Alaska Airlines: WP[workprint]-1,100 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 20 - 2 Large Reels - The Hotel used to be the Alaska Airlines Hotel." Notes accompanying the reels are as follows: "Reel 1 - WP, ECL, Kotzebue, cutting up salmon, fish camp, Dave’s family, interior museum drummers –- dance blanket toss, tourist fish camp, Eskimo man talking about his childhood, tundra long shot, ivory carver with bracelet, waterfront exterior of museum building, exterior of hotel, Front Street fisherman, scenes of over bay, tourist getting off of Alaska airliner, museum stuffed animals, tourists going from bus into museum, Eskimo woman with baby on back, museum hallway."
[Pipeline, South Atigun Pass]
[Pipeline, South Atigun Pass]
This film contains very grainy and static images of the Trans-Alaska pipeline, a washed out culvert along the road, and a distant shot of a vehicle traveling along the Haul Road.
[UAF fire department 1980 to 1981]
[UAF fire department 1980 to 1981]
This film contains footage of a large group of people swimming and playing in a backyard swimming pool during cold weather and warm weather as well as footage of a firefighting competition which includes firefighting races and fires being extinguished by groups of firefighters.
[Fred Machetanz]
[Fred Machetanz]
Film contains scenes of artist Fred Machetanz at work in his studio, sign for “Hilscher Highway – Private Road,” scenes of driving along a snowy road as seen from inside a car, and signs pointing toward Machetanz property.
Films North
Films North
Film contains scenes of artist Fred Machetanz beginning work on a painting in his studio, outside in winter stacking firewood, and in his studio finishing a painting of polar bears.
[Fred Machetanz outdoors and indoors]
[Fred Machetanz outdoors and indoors]
Film contains scenes of Fred Machetanz and another man using a chain saw and ax to fell and cut up trees for firewood, men driving along a snowy road, and Fred Machetanz stacking firewood then painting in his studio
[Inside the trans-Alaska pipeline]
[Inside the trans-Alaska pipeline]
This film contains silent scenes of a welder inside the trans-Alaska pipeline and views as a camera moves down the length of the inside of the pipeline.
[Fred Machetanz painting]
[Fred Machetanz painting]
Film contains scenes of Fred Machetanz’s studio and the artist at work inside his studio. He uses his fingers to blend color on a painting, draws with charcoal, and applies color to another painting.
[Machetanz paintings]
[Machetanz paintings]
Film contains close-up images of animals and human subjects in Machetanz paintings, including paintings from 1967 and 1970
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
This film contains footage of two women standing outside of an Aeronca Sedan airplane in the snow, women washing a car, a wildfire, two women standing in front of a house with a small dog, a group of boys putting on heavy backpacks being handed to them out of the back of a truck, airplanes on floats on a lake, people water skiing on a lake, children playing next to a lake, a Christmas tree and Christmas presents, people opening Christmas presents, Spooks' Nook at Chitina, a waterfall, views of the mountains, children playing in the snow, a family gathering with a baby in a long (baptismal?) gown, children playing on a swings, a small child looking at a baby in a woman's arms, a Christmas tree, people opening Christmas presents, a child playing with a toy horse, a baby looking at toys, a parade outside Alaska with large floats, horse drawn carriages, motorcycles, old cars, a marching band, a person driving a tractor in a film superimposed over footage of a baby walking, footage of a family gathering, people posing for photographs superimposed over footage of a child walking on grass, men on horses herding cattle (likely not in Alaska), women standing in front of a car with a dog, children playing outdoors, people sitting on the grass, the sternwheeler Riverboat Nenana in Fairbanks, men in a boat on the water, and men next to a river and swimming in the river, a small child playing in the snow, and a family picnic outdoors.
[Art class]
[Art class]
Film contains scenes of a classroom full of artists sketching and painting as a male model sits in a chair at the front of the classroom. Fred Machetanz sketches and paints, and he instructs other artists at their easels or as they look over his shoulder. Fred Machetanz looks at and talks about a display of sketches, swatches and paintings with labels such as “1935 Alaska Unalakleet” and “Materials, Pigments, Glazing,” etc.
[Machetanz original]
[Machetanz original]
Footage features close-up images of animals and human subjects in Machetanz paintings.
[Alaska Native celebrations]
[Alaska Native celebrations]
This film contains scenes of different groups of Alaska Native peoples drumming and dancing in Southeast and Northern Alaska, people sharing and eating muktuk (whale) at a celebration in Northern Alaska, and a blanket toss in Northern Alaska (possibly Barrow).
[Hauling pipe to North Slope, work in icy waters, sailboat Endeavor]
[Hauling pipe to North Slope, work in icy waters, sailboat Endeavor]
AAF-10588 is labeled "BP Pipe to Slope work print." It includes images of men unloading an oil well or a feeder line pipe in the rail yard at Fairbanks, hauling pipe sections by truck, loading pipe sections onto a C-130 airplane, a cockpit and views from an airplane in flight, and Prudhoe Bay. The label on the film indicates that scenes cover the shipping process to Prudhoe Bay from train to truck to airplane to slope. The title "Ships to Slope" is also included, and this section of film contains images of boats and barges operating in extremely icy waters, pipe sections being unloaded, a man loading and setting sail aboard the small orange sailboat "Endeavor," and an oil well in the distance with cans of Polar Start oil displayed in foreground.
[Trailers hauled to snowy pipeline camp]
[Trailers hauled to snowy pipeline camp]
This film contains scenes featuring S.S. Mullen Construction Company equipment, a Caterpillar dealership in Fairbanks, aerial views of the Haul Road, a sign that says "Ice May Be Unsafe - Cross at Your Own Risk - State of Alaska Dept. of Highways," men standing next to a cargo airplane, trucks hauling equipment along a narrow snowy road, aerial views of the Brooks Range and a road, aerial views of trucks on a snowy road, aerial views of a pipeline camp, and trailers being assembled and put into place at the camp.
[Alyeska start-up]
[Alyeska start-up]
Images include the press and TV crews at Prudhoe Bay waiting for oil to start flowing into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on June 20, 1977 as well as scenes inside a control room and aerial views of Prudhoe Bay facilities. See AAF-20,001 -- AAF-20,002 for associated items. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 108 - 1 large reel, 2 medium reels, 1 photo and a magazine article - Start-up at pig launcher. This is the first time they put oil in the pipeline. They put a pig in the pipe first and in it was an electronic device that could detect where the oil was. You could walk along and hear the pig pinging, and they had instruments that could pick it up to track it when it went underground. Bill was the only one allowed inside the pump station because he worked for Alyeska. There were TV crews from all over the world to film this and he was the only one allowed in. Bill was in there filming, and the oil started to come into the pump station, and all of the sudden oil started coming in and spraying all over the station. This guy that worked in there yelled at Bill, 'Does that camera run on electricity?' And Bill answered, 'Yes sir.' He yelled back, 'Shut it off,' so Bill did and he said, 'What the hell is the matter?' The guy said, 'One spark and this whole place blows to kingdom come - you don’t realize but that crude oil has everything in it - it has gas and everything in it, so it will blow this thing to hell.' Once they cleaned it up a little, they let him film again, and he got film of them cleaning it up. The man in the pump station said, 'Mark my words before this oil gets to Valdez someone is going to get killed,' and sure enough someone did. There was a leak in the pipe, and they did not shut off all the electrical stuff, and the thing blew up. No one knows why, but it happened."
[Thompson Valdez film 2]
[Thompson Valdez film 2]
Footage features Prince William Sound winter scenery from airplane, Columbia Glacier, an airplane landing on gravel runway at Valdez Airport, Old Town in May, Port Valdez Motel, Old Town fire, Harolds Rent-A-Truck pulling mobile home, Gold Rush fashion show, women in gowns, Old Town, people moving a building, New Town boat harbor, a boat named “Scrounger Too,” a parade in New Town with a military band, a fire truck, a school bus, a fire in Old Town, aerial views of Old Town and New Town, Pinzon Bar, cafe sign, Switzerland Inn, New Town harbor, Rexall store, Xavier Catholic Church, the police department, the Visitors Bureau, paved roads, Eagles Lodge, Old Town, an abandoned church, people moving the Eagles building, and people moving other buildings and an old church. Reels of Super-8mm films had been donated to the Valdez Museum by Jim Thompson in 2006, and were officially transferred to the Alaska Film Archives in 2015.
[Thompson Valdez film]
[Thompson Valdez film]
Footage includes a moving building, buildings in Old Town, signs identifying buildings, burning buildings in Old Town following the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, ships in the harbor, Alyeska Terminal 1976, a fire across from Port Valdez Hotel, porpoises and a sea otter, a woman getting her hair styled, a fishing boat with an outboard motor, men hauling a dingy aboard, flying over New Town and Old Town, an unidentified man, Old Town after the tsunami, fishermen pulling a crab pot, and a panorama of New Town. Reels of Super-8mm films had been donated to the Valdez Museum by Jim Thompson in 2006, and were officially transferred to the Alaska Film Archives in 2015.
[Fort Wainwright 1970s]
[Fort Wainwright 1970s]
This film contains scenes from the early 1970s of troops at Fort Wainwright boarding a C-130 aircraft, aerial views of the landscape, and scenes of soldiers with parachutes exiting the aircraft.
[Eyth Family collection films 7]
[Eyth Family collection films 7]
AAF-13887 contains scenes of a family Christmas, a moose, and a glacier. AAF-13888 contains scenes of deep snow. AAF-13889 -- AAF-13894 contain scenes of a glacier face, a Bridal Veil falls sign, Fourth of July celebrations, a family camping, a river and fishing (poor exposure on original film), a family Christmas, and a camper and boat.
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 2]
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 2]
This film contains on-the-ground and aerial views of Alaska's North Slope and the future Haul Road corridor, caribou running, a man with a small net standing next to a stream, caribou near bluffs, Sagwon Lodge, a braided river, a camp and tower (drill rig?), bears, wolves, caribou, sheep, rivers, mountains, men pulling a net from a stream, men fly fishing, bear tracks, a small airplane near a camp, moose, a man with a fish net, a bear, views from a boat in the river, cabins along the river, jumpy aerial views of the Fairbanks area including Creamer's Dairy and a mining operation, aerial views of road construction crews at work and trees being cleared north of Fairbanks along the Haul Road (Dalton Highway) corridor between Livengood and the Yukon River, men fishing from a boat, and Bridal Veil falls near Valdez.
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
This film contains scenes featuring people posing and getting into a small airplane, a small framed cabin, a log cabin, boats on a river, women and a cabin, cabins and caches along a river, a family at a cabin, many people in a boat, a moose in a river, and mountains as seen from a river.