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Film Finder

If you have reached this point, we hope you have tried all the obvious sources such as searching this site,  Amazon.com, Google, and the top search engines.  With this done, here are our recommended next steps.

1. Search the Internet Movie Database – If the film you are searching for is not listed here it is unlikely the film was ever released on video.  Additionally, having the correct spelling, year released, and director can make it more likely that your search will be successful.  This information should be included when contacting any of the merchants listed below.

2. Search Ebay   Many video collectors and dealers put their available titles up for auction on Ebay. Because of the number of people who list products on Ebay, the site has consistently been the best place to look for rare and out of date videos.

3. Search the rare video sites Go to these sites in the order they are listed and use their search mechanisms.  These sites have extensive inventories of out of print and difficult to find titles, and have the most extensive listings we have come across.  Some pages are over 100KBs in size and thus may take some time to load, be patient. The listing of these retailers should not be viewed as a guarantee of the quality of their services.  Documentary Films .Net is not affiliated with any of these merchants.

Alphabetical Doc Listings For VHS  and for DVD from Direct Video — Based out of Canada, but with a extensive listing. Ships to U.S..VHS Alphabetical Listing from Cinema Classics — Highly Recommended

Critic’s Choice Video  — Highly Recommended

4.  Search DocuSeekDocuSeek is a search site for independent, documentary, educational and social issue video and films. They list over a thousand films.  The downside is that distributors they list sell mainly to educational institutions which will show the video over and over, so they charge over $200 for most videos and over $50 to rent a video.  They do have an excellent search function which allows you to search through the collections of its member distributors in very specific ways. For example, while typical search engines allow you to search for keywords, DocuSeek allows you to search for videos by grade level, length, filmmaker, and other characteristics in addition to searching for keywords.  A definite film finder resource.

5.  Search The PBS ShopUnlike their programming, this site isn’t very user friendly, but many independent documentaries have been shown on PBS, and PBS is authorized to sell many of them.  If you use their search box and don’t find anything, try using their alphabetical listings as well.   Most people have not found the search function very reliable.  If the program you are searching for might have been part of a series look under possible series names names as well.  They have a list of the series on the site.

6.  Search Video Oyster the eccentric, one man video operation out of New York.  The costs are extremely high, but Video Oyster has succeeded in in finding films when no one else in the country could.

7.  Keep searching; at this point we regret that we have no other resources to help you find your title, but all the best to you in your search.