
12 Aug 1998

Megacities
Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.
The manufacture of kerosene tins in an Indian factory.

12 Aug 1998

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

08 Jun 1947

Rare amateur footage of East India.

01 Jan 1968

A documentary on the life of the youth in post-Independence India.

14 Nov 1984

Divided into three parts — The Awakening, The Struggle, and Freedom — this is a biographical film on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Relying on Nehru's writings and speeches, the film traces the evolution of Nehru from his birth through his life. It also deals with the effect of history on Nehru and in turn his impact on the world.

10 Aug 2017

As part of the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, the British Council and British Film Institute share a unique collection of films documenting the sights and culture of a bygone India. Filmed between 1899-1947, and preserved in the BFI National Archive since then, these rare films capture many glimpses of life in India, from dances and markets, to hunts and pageantry.

15 Aug 1953

This documentary highlights the achievements of India in the political, economic, and international fields since she attained Independence. The framing of her Constitution, the integration of the States and the general elections, the rehabilitation of displaced persons, the river valley projects, and the setting up of a chain of National Laboratories are some of the achievements shown here.

22 Mar 1895

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

01 May 2017

A sex columnist gains popularity even while a ban on comprehensive sex education in schools is adopted by approximately a third of India’s states.

31 May 1935

Amateur footage of the devastation caused by one of South Asia's worst earthquakes.

11 Mar 2021

Varanasi is the Indian city where Hindus go to die. Stretching along the Ganges, Varanasi holds great spiritual significance because Hindu scriptutres say that anyone who dies there will attain moksha—liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Berlin-based director Dan Braga Ulvestad captures life and death in India’s heartland in this moving documentary filled with exquisite cinematic moments. By the River starts its narrative journey with the city’s “death hotels,” dedicated apartments where people wait to die, sometimes for decades, so they can be cremated on the banks of the Ganges.

15 May 2014

"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.

05 Dec 1905

An elephantine spectacle, likely part of the celebrations for the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India.

01 Jul 1947

Amateur film of fishing and geese-shooting trips by a British party in India.

29 Dec 1902

Aristocracy, army, elephants and more mark the start of the 1903 Durbar.

07 Jan 1903

Stately scenes in India, likely filmed during the 1903 Delhi Durbar.

01 Sep 1937

Rural life in the mountainous valley near Gilgit - now in the Northern areas of Pakistan.

28 Feb 1921

The Duke rides an elephant as he ventures on safari in Bengal.

01 Jun 1917

A state welcome for a Handley Page aircraft arriving in Kolkata.

01 May 1925

The race is on - for the Viceroy's Cup.

14 Sep 2009

Sixteen year olds Palani and Karthik want to become "ladyboys." They're bullied in school and beaten by their families. Their parents would like to see them grow up as normal boys, but they're falling deeper and deeper into the world of the "Aravanis." Loved as dance performers but hated as homosexuals, their stories emblazon the inner conflicts of India's gender culture today.