This paper examines the methodological difficulties associated with conducting media historiography in the case of the Turkish Educational Film Center (EFC) during the Cold War era. The EFC was created through diplomatic collaborations between the Ministry of National Education of Turkey (MNET), the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United States Information Services (USIS). This collaboration is a compelling case to explore how the US government and UNESCO shaped the media network in Turkey and influenced the communication methods of several Turkish ministries. The difficulty of conducting this research derives from both the scarcity and attainability of materials at various libraries in Turkey and the US, causing the research process to become lengthy and expensive. Between its founding in 1952 and 1966, the EFC produced 3,000 films and 30,000 film strips, and imported over 350 films from Europe and hundreds of films from the US. Only a small handful of catalogues scattered over nonconsecutive years were archived by the National Library of Turkey. Moreover, these catalogues are incomplete and often do not provide even the essential information such as production year, sponsor and filmmaker. On the other hand, there is an overwhelming number of films and documents at the National Archives in the US to investigate the role of USIS in Turkey, making it difficult to find the relevant information about the EFC. While the digitization process has begun, only 89 EFC films are digitally available via an online educational platform developed by MNET. While this digitization of the EFC archives is incomplete, it is also based on a bias selection of films that prioritize Turkish nationalism. Some of the USIS produced and distributed films were also edited with a Turkish version, creating multiple versions of the same film. In one known case, the film was edited four times following multiple requests from the Turkish government making it difficult to track down all versions. Both the scarcity and attainability of archival materials as well as the issue of accessibility generate challenges to write a media history about the nonfiction media infrastructure in Turkey. By discussing methods and findings, this paper aims to bring attention to the existence of the EFC with the hope of expanding the scholarship of nontheatrical films and raising awareness of the necessity of preservation practices and future collaborations between scholars.