Bengal Shadows

India's forgotten people

September 2020 •English

Meena

June 2014 •English

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

Mahatma Gandhi Noa Khali March

January 1947 •

Remarkable amateur footage of Mahatma Gandhi shot by his great nephew in 1947.

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.

Traceable

September 2014 •English

Traceable follows Laura Siegel, a fashion designer who takes a critical look at the fashion supply chain and fast fashion industry, travels through India in order to meet and work together with the artisans who create the majority of the clothing that we wear. The film explores our growing disconnect of how and who makes our clothing, thus instilling a need for traceability in the fashion industry.

Arrival

January 1980 •Hindi

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.

Mind of Clay

March 1985 •Hindi

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

Ruins of Delhi

April 1910 •English

Attractive travelogue filmed in and around Delhi's Qutb complex.

Villenour (French India: Territory of Pondicherry)

February 1914 •

Gorgeously dreamlike colour images of (then) French India – present-day Puducherry.

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.

Between the Lines: India's Third Gender

January 2005 •English

Repping best view to date into the world of the Indian eunuch, “Between the Lines: India’s Third Gender” may not answer all the questions it poses, but helmer Thomas Wartmann provides an intimate glimpse at a community whose members are considered pariahs and conduits of supernatural force. Following shutterbug Anita Khemka in her quest to discover why these castrated men fascinate and repel, docu concentrates on three personalities and uses them as guides to their highly stratified world. Under its nautch skirts, film has strong enough legs to step out into international arthouses.

A Punjab Village

January 1925 •English

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

Maharajah of the Road

June 2012 •English

A Dream Trip Across India Some kilometers from Bombay, the Indian megalopolis, lost on a hill of Bollywood, is the grandiose set of a vast temple with a magical touch, reminiscent at the same time of an Indian shrine and an ancient Inca temple. Inside, Ten Ford Mustangs are waiting. Ten Ford Mustang with an incredible pedigree: Bullitt GT390, Shelby GT500, Shelby GT500 KR 1968... the deep sound of a gong resounds, the doors of the templeopen launching the first edition of the Maharajah of the Road. At the wheel of the ten Ford Mustang, passionate people coming from all over the world: Indian, French, American, Italian, Lebanese... they are business men, automobile designers, manufacturers, artists… From Mumbai to Jodhpur, a 2.000 kilometres tour will lead our Mustangs through India. From the Rats Temple in Deshnoke city to the thousand-and-one palaces, the two princesses will show the Rajasthan to the adventurers of the road in an eventful trip...

James Bond in India

January 1983 •English

The making of the James Bond movie Octopussy (1983) in Udaipur, India during 1982.

Herzschlag der Kontinente

February 1987 •French

Tight: The World of Indian Bodybuilding

February 2024 •English

Can Aji's talent and triumphs elevate him from his poor, Tamil background to succeed on the national stage at Mr India? Or will his dreams be shattered by corruption and discrimination? The booming world of Indian bodybuilding is a captivating window through which to observe a rapidly changing society, while Aji's journey is a story of unity, brotherhood and celebration of India's incredible diversity.

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.

Sapera

March 2019 •Hindi

In the holy city of Varanasi, 16-year-old Ali has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world – catching poisonous snakes. The boy balances life and death on a daily basis to support his family.

Indocam

January 2022 •English

A travelogue about India. But it is more than a video about a foreign place. We follow the director's itinerary and witness his chance encounters with people and also public events, some of which continue to shape India's politics today.