Indian Life

The Endless Summer

June 1966 •English

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Herzschlag der Kontinente

February 1987 •French

Italy's in Season

January 1967 •English

This short film presents a look at Italy's popular tourist spots.

Meena

June 2014 •English

Meena is a documentary film about sex trafficking in India based on a true story.

Renault 12

May 2018 •French

Shortly after his mother’s passing, playwright and stage director Mohamed El Khatib receives a phone call from his uncle in Bab Berred, the family’s village in the Moroccan Rif, instructing him to come as soon as possible to collect his inheritance – mysteriously insisting that he should make the trip in a Renault 12. Coaxed by his father, El Khatib decides to make the journey from Orléans to Tangier. Structured like a road movie, Renault 12 is also the filmmaker’s quest to discover his own origins, in which he both documents chance encounters and stages situations to bring social, political, and cultural landscapes to light.

West Virginia, the State Beautiful

December 1929 •English

A travelogue showing the beauty of the state of West Virginia in 1929.

Champagne Safari

January 1954 •English

Travelogue/documentary follows newly married Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan on their honeymoon trip through exotic locales.

Sunshine in Soho

January 1956 •English

1950s Soho beats with far more energy than its 21st century counterpart in this vivid time capsule.

India's forgotten people

September 2020 •English

Seil und Tau Fabrikation in Howrah bei Kalkutta

January 1909 •English

A short film showing the industrial process of jute works in India.

Picturesque India or, In and About Calcutta

January 1913 •English

Botanical gardens in Bombay plus the highly decorative Jain Temple in Calcutta.

Tigres : Le Making of

April 2024 •English

Ask the Sexpert

May 2017 •English

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.

Writing with Fire

January 2021 •Hindi

In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, emerges India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues and within the confines of their own homes, redefining what it means to be powerful.

The Warp and the Weft

September 2015 •English

Set in Varanasi, an ancient city of India, Tana Bana offers a rare look at the hidden world of Moslem weavers and Hindu traders and how their lives are interwoven through the production of the silk and the beauty it creates. However, as the technology advances, the trade is threatened by computerization and globalization.

A Road in India

February 1938 •English

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

Temples of India

February 1938 •English

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

The Last Maneater: Killer Tigers of India

May 2003 •English

Sunderbans (Forest of Beauty) is in West Bengal, India, and is the only place on Earth that is the natural habitat of Royal Bengal Tigers that have never known to be fearful of humans. One tiger has been known to kill three fully grown men, leaving behind orphans and widows who belong to poor tribes, dependent on harvesting wild honey and fishing, in a swampy mangrove region. About 80 people are killed annually by these ferocious beasts with razor-sharp jaws, whose forepaws can shatter bones, and sharp teeth can pierce a skull in one bite. Amidst religious superstitions, the narrator attempts to explain the cause behind their taste for human meat in a region devoid of electricity, roadways, firearms and safe drinking water, and why the villagers continue to live there despite of being stalked and mauled on land and water alike.

One Ticket Please

March 2017 •English

A documentary about a 78-year-old Indian woman in New York who is the world's most passionate theatergoer. Nicki Cochrane has been seeing a play every day for more than 25 years, acquiring free tickets using a variety of ingenious means.

Portrait of Dublin

January 1952 •English

This short film was made by filmmaker (later archivist) Liam Ó Laoghaire (aka Liam O’Leary) and was commissioned by the Cultural Relations Committee of the Irish Department of External Affairs. The film was designed to promote the city of Dublin to its inhabitants and to potential visitors from abroad. Brendan J. Stafford’s crisp black and white cinematography serves the city’s elegant architecture well while the narrator tells of the city’s cultural, literary and architectural history and its many venerable inhabitants. The elegant Georgian squares, the bustling markets, the tranquil parks and the sparkling nightlife present a city that is vibrant, cultured and steeped in history.