Indian Elephants in the Service of Man(1938)

Fascinating India(de)

"Fascinating India" spreads an impressive panorama of India’s historical and contemporary world. The film presents the most important cities, royal residences and temple precincts. It follows the trail of different religious denominations, which have influenced India up to the present day. Simon Busch and Alexander Sass travelled for months through the north of the Indian subcontinent to discover what is hidden under India’s exotic and enigmatic surface, and to show what is rarely revealed to foreigners. The film deals with daily life in India. In Varanasi, people burn their dead to ashes. At the Kumbh Mela, the biggest religious gathering of the world, 35 million pilgrims bathe in holy River Ganges. This is the first time India is presented in such an alluring and engaging fashion on screen.

Local Scenes in India and the Taj Mahal(en)

This travelogue takes in some of the most important landmarks of Islamic power in India.

Taj Mahal, Local Indian Scenes and a cruise to Port Said(en)

Luscious colour photography of the Taj Mahal and a Mediterranean cruise to Port Said.

Mysore(en)

Two sides of Mysore: down to earth with the field workers and an Indian spectacle for the Maharaja.

Calcutta Pageant(en)

Scenes from a lavish pageant held during the royal visit to India, celebrating King George V’s coronation.

Calcutta Topical No. 1(en)

Fashionably attired folk attend the races in Kolkata.

Mind of Clay(hi)

In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.

Arrival(hi)

To the city come men, women, fruits, flowers, vegetables, goats and sheep – all ready for consumption. It is the process of consumption/exploitation that forms the core of the film.

Herzschlag der Kontinente(fr)

A Road in India(en)

Life on the road in India, showing the traffic, people and animals.

Temples of India(en)

Hindu temples at Benares and Belur and the mythologies associated with them.

Pigs and Elephants (Suiformes and Elephantoidea)(en)

Pig, hippo, and elephant footage strung together with narration. Elephants were included even though they are not related to pigs.

Safari(de)

Africa. In the wild expanses, where bush-bucks, impalas, zebras, gnus and other creatures graze by the thousands, they are on holiday. German and Austrian hunting tourists drive through the bush, lie in wait, stalk their prey. They shoot, sob with excitement and pose before the animals they have bagged. A vacation movie about killing, a movie about human nature.

A Punjab Village(en)

Richly detailed amateur ethnographic film on the agrarian economy and society in rural Punjab.

Wonderful Temples of India(en)

A Christian take on 'Edenless' India, where heathens are unafraid of snakes, and build 'interesting' temples to their gods.

Benares Chungking Ichang(en)

Arresting early film images of both northern India and central and south western China.

Aka and Daffla Dances(en)

A stunning display by Nyishi tribesmen from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India.

Uti(en)

Snapshots of colonial life around Tamil Nadu, plus a visit to the Toda tribe.

Our Greatest Ambassador(en)

Richly detailed record of the Prince of Wales' Indian tour.

Edward Prince of Wales' Tour of India: Madras, Bangalore, Mysore and Hyderabad(en)

This official travelogue of a royal tour follows the Prince on a series of regimental displays and a tiger hunt.