LibGuides: Streaming Video: Home

Streaming Video Databases at UR

Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new window
Swank provides film streaming to academic institutions. Here you will find films from major Hollywood film studios, both “classic” and contemporary.
Instructors: if you would like a Swank film linked to your course’s Blackboard page and need help, contact Tom Clifford tclifford@library.rochester.edu.
Films on Demand: Master Academic Package This link opens in a new window
Individually selected titles from more than 800 international producers to bring a wide variety of the most relevant videos to suit the unique instructional needs of every subject.
JoVE - Journal of Visualized Experiments This link opens in a new window
Producer and provider of science videos.
Kanopy (1920 - current) This link opens in a new window
Kanopy is a streaming video database with over 20,000 movie titles from a large group of film producers including the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber Edu, Documentary Educational Resources Collection, BBC Active Collection, and many others.
“Please note: If you do not have the most current Zotero Chrome addon you may encounter problems with other services such as Kanopy that require a proxy connector. This conflict, if experienced, is resolved by uninstalling the Zotero Chrome addon and installing the most current version.”

A note about Kanopy:

River Campus Libraries has recently switched from an unlimited model to a mediated model with Kanopy, meaning that some titles on the platform that used to be freely available will now have to be requested. If you find a title on Kanopy that needs to be requested, you will be shown a request form when you click on the title. Please fill out the form and allow 2-3 days for the request to be processed.

List of all Streaming Video Sources at UR-

Streaming Video Metasearch Services

Metasearch services allow you to search across popular streaming platforms to find where a film or television show is available. Please note that metasearch services may not be fully up-to-date.

ReelGood
ReelGood searches for films and television shows across popular streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.) as well as renting and DVD options.
JustWatch
JustWatch searches for films and television shows across streaming services.

Pay-Per-View Video Services

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video has films and television episodes to rent ranging from about $4 to about $10 per rental. Rental period is generally 48 hours.
YouTube Movies
YouTube has a collection of films and television episodes that can be rented for $4-$6. The site also has some films that can be watched for free with ads.
Vimeo On Demand
Vimeo has a collection of mostly independent films that can be rented or purchased. Prices vary widely, ranging from $1 to $10+ per rental. Rental periods also vary, from 24 hours to 1 week, depending on the film.

Movies Free with Ads

These sites include movies that are free to watch but that include ad breaks throughout.

Tubi
Includes movies and TV shows, all free to watch with ads.
Vudu
Has both free-with-ads content and pay-per-view content.

Kast

Kast
An app for hosting 'watch parties,' which allows users to share and virtually watch movies together. All users must create a free account to access.

Free movies and videos

Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive
Free videos including feature films, animation, and television news broadcasts, uploaded under a Creative Commons license.

Outreach Librarian for Art, Dance, Visual & Cultural Studies

Stephanie Frontz

her, she

Email Me

Contact:

Art/Music Library
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627
585-275-4476

Subjects: Art & Art History, Dance, Film & Media Studies, Music, Visual & Cultural Studies