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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.
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2017-08-10
Released
English
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The story of Sita, a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic “Ramayana”.
| hi
7.4
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.
2017-05-01 | en
0.0
Documentary showing one day of work of over 90 actors and filmmakers from French cinema on the same day. On 27 March 2002, 27 teams filmed actors, directors, producers and technicians at work, from Hawaii to Paris and from New York to Lisbon.
2002-05-20 | fr
5.5
Desperate to become as rich and successful as their idol, a trio of Michael Jackson impersonators hustle their way into Hollywood agencies, are accosted by paparazzi, and cross paths with Grammy-winning musicians as the American dream seems tantalisingly close. But as they perform for dollar bills and sleep in their car, the reality of the ruthless entertainment industry they dream about hits home.
2024-09-11 | en
0.0
"The Pig and the Society," symbolizes the stark contrast between the excesses of wealth and the plight of those left behind. It invites viewers to reflect on their perceptions and prejudices, challenging them to see beyond the surface and understand the systemic issues perpetuating homelessness.
2026-01-14 | pt
3.0
Filmmakers stay at a haunted lodge and find themselves in over their heads when they encounter something otherworldly.
2023-10-17 | en
7.0
As World War I rages, brave and youthful Australians Archy and Frank—both agile runners—become friends and enlist in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps together. They later find themselves part of the Dardanelles Campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, a brutal eight-month conflict which pit the British and their allies against the Ottoman Empire and left over 500,000 men dead.
1981-08-13 | en
1.0
Meet Duewand Collier Jr.-Male, 68 years old, American Citizen, a child conceived in the backdrop of the Philippines-American Mutual Defense Treaty, born and raised with Catholic guilt. He has made peace with his past and now tells his story-a story of love.
2019-06-22 | en
8.0
A 1962 West German documentary film directed by Hermann Leitner and Rudolf Nussgruber.
1962-12-19 | de
7.4
In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, man-of-the-people Lt. Chard and snooty Lt. Bromhead are in charge of defending the isolated and vastly outnumbered Natal outpost of Rorke's Drift from tribal hordes.
1964-01-22 | en
6.8
Set during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement in the British Raj, the story begins with the arrival in India of a British woman, Miss Adela Quested, who is joining her fiancé, a city magistrate named Ronny Heaslop. She and Ronny's mother, Mrs. Moore, befriend an Indian doctor, Aziz H. Ahmed.
1984-12-14 | en
7.8
Tehran, Iran, August 19, 1953. A group of Iranian conspirators who, with the approval of the deposed tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, have conspired with agents of the British MI6 and the US CIA, manage to put an end to the democratic government led by Mohammad Mosaddegh, a dramatic event that will begin the tragic era of coups d'état that, orchestrated by the CIA, will take place, over the following decades, in dozens of countries around the world.
2019-09-01 | en
0.0
Monte Hellman was born in 1932. By 1986 he made eight features, but had not directed for six years. I had made as many documentaries, but had not turned a foot of film through a camera for two years. I decided to break the silence by spending a day with him. Nine rolls were loaded into the camera. We talked until either we or the camera ran out.
1986-09-07 | en
8.0
A documentary about Shaolin Kung Fu starring Jet Li
1994-04-14 | zh
6.0
In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.
1979-05-14 | en
6.9
A Suitable Girl follows three young women in India struggling to maintain their identities and follow their dreams amid intense pressure to get married. The film examines the women's complex relationship with marriage, family, and society.
2017-04-22 | en
8.5
Young revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha fights for Indian Independence in the early 1900s.
2023-11-03 | pa
10.0
The Real Story of Fake Democracy. Filmed over three years in five countries, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF is an epic investigation into the new regime of illiberal democracy. From the young students of Hong Kong, to a rapper in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and the viral comedians of Bollywood, we discover how people from every corner of the globe are fighting the same struggle. They are fighting against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities, and their political opponents.
2017-06-12 | en
6.1
The film begins in 1857, when India was ruled by the British East India Company. Mangal Pandey is a sepoy, a soldier of Indian origin, in the army of the East India Company. Pandey is fighting in the Anglo-Afghan Wars and saves the life of his British commanding officer, William Gordon. Gordon is indebted to Pandey and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending both rank and race.
2005-08-12 | hi
0.0
Filmmakers revisit Inukjuak, the Inuit village where Robert J. Flaherty filmed Nanook of the North in the early twentieth century, and examine the realities behind the ground-breaking documentary.
1988-06-16 | fr