Ancient India

An astonishing English tourist’s view of street life in pre-partition Srinagar and Kashmir.

Short documentary on India

The Maharajah of Jind inspects the guard of honour.

Inspired by The Seven Valleys, the film follows a solitary wayfarer who steps onto a spiritual journey of self-knowledge, guided not by destination but by transformation. Shot across the historic landscapes of Oxford, the journey unfolds as both an inner pilgrimage and a physical passage that reflects the wayfarer’s movement toward surrender, silence, and submission.

From dawn till dusk in the bohemian heart of London’s West End. This 1979 portrait of the people and places of Soho catches the neighbourhood towards the end of an era. There's some great footage inside an Italian delicatessen and of assorted street characters. It's a fascinating glimpse into this walled garden of cosmopolitan life on the cusp of the gentrification and commercial interests that have since broken its borders.

Military occasions around India and Pakistan, featuring the Khyber Pass, Srinagar, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

A motorist's excursion captures a world made by hand in the environs of Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.

Indian elephants in action as working animals and in hunting.

Fireworks, illuminations and traditional dance all feature in a stunningly opulent royal wedding at Kundla, Gujarat.

A demonstration of sport and fitness by members of the Indian Army.

Tigers in the Himalayan foothills, filmed by famous hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett.

Rare stencil-coloured images of early 20th century Delhi during a Muslim festival.

Dignitaries including the Nizam of Hyderabad gather to celebrate the Durbar in honour of George V, who arrives by boat in Bombay.

Documentary on the construction of Chandigarh, the new capital of the Indian Punjab region, planned by Albert Mayer and Swiss architect Le Corbusier.

Actuality film showing a busy Salvation Army parade in a rural village under the British Raj.

Salvation Army General Commissioner Edward Higgins features in the this film of a brass band parade through a village.

Jaw-dropping acrobatics for royal visitors.

Auroville: L'esquisse d'un monde

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.

The Jarawas live in the Andaman Islands on the Indian Ocean. The origin of the tribe is in Africa some 70,000 years back. They have lived in almost perfect isolation from the rest of the world until recent times.