NARA makes films availabe via CustomFlix

From NARA or CustomFlix release:

The National Archives and Records Administration today announced that it has reached an non-exclusive agreement with CustomFlix Labs, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. group of companies, to make thousands of historic films from the National Archives available for purchase on Amazon.com. The National Archives and Records Administration holds more than 200,000 motion picture titles that include documentaries, newsreels, instructional films, combat footage, research and development films, and many other formats that provide an unequalled visual history of the United States.

The National Archives has selected the CustomFlix DVD on Demand service to initially make its collection of Universal Newsreels, dating from 1920 to 1967, available on DVD to the general public for purchase on Amazon.com. Newsreels cover worldwide events in politics, entertainment, fashion, sports and technology. Historic moments in world history, such as the death of FDR, the end of WWII, the famous 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debate and the royal wedding of Princess Margaret, are all chronicled. Thousands of public domain films and other U.S. Defense Department and U.S. Information Agency titles from the National Archives motion picture holdings will also become available in the near future.

"Our initiative with CustomFlix Labs will reap major benefits for the public-at-large and for the National Archives," said Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States. "While the public can come to our College Park, MD research room to view films and even copy them at no charge, this new program will make our holdings much more accessible to millions of people who cannot travel to the Washington, D.C. area.
CustomFlix Labs DVD on Demand will provide the National Archives with digital reference and preservation copies of the films that are sold on Amazon.com. This is an important contribution to our preservation program."