Local Scenes in India and the Taj Mahal

From Liverpool to Stratford

1949

This Traveltalk series short visits several points of interest in England, including the port of Liverpool, war destruction at Coventry, the historic Warwick Castle, and Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

Picturesque New Zealand

1952

This Traveltalk series short visit to New Zealand starts in Auckland, a bustling, modern city. Next is Christchurch, home of Canterbury University, where rowing teams participate in a regatta. Nearby is Lake Wakatipu, which inspires artists to put their impressions on canvas. We then visit Rotorua, a city famous for its geysers, hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and other geothermal activity. At Ferry Springs there is lots of trout for fishing. Later, a group of natives performs a canoe dance.

Rudy Maxa's World Exotic Places: Tokyo, Japan

2009

Rudy can't get enough of the sheer vitality of Tokyo. Exciting, edgy, and full of life, Tokyo is shopping madness by day and a carnival at night. Join the throngs at one of the world's most exciting street intersections to witness its blazing neon and JumboTron shows. Greet the new day at the Tsukiji fish market, where a staggering 2,000 tons of seafood pass through each day. Get caught up in cherry blossom mania, visit distant neighborhoods via the subway, and wander the streets in search of new restaurants, a Tokyo obsession!

Rromani Soul

2008

RROMANI SOUL traces the true origin of the Rroma people. Through rituals, song and dance we follow emblematic figure and "Queen of the Gypsies" Esma Redzepova to Macedonia, south of France and finally to India. The film reveals for the first time ever that the true and unique origin of the Rroma is Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Machines

2017

This portrayal of the rhythm of life and work in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India, moves through the corridors and bowels of the enormously disorienting structure—taking the viewer on a journey of dehumanizing physical labor and intense hardship.

Modern Guatemala City

1945

This FitzPatrick Traveltalk short visits Guatemala City, touching upon its sights, customs, and history.

Mind of Clay

1985

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

The Power of Utopia: Living with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh

2023

With the construction of the Indian planned city of Chandigarh, the Swiss and French architect Le Corbusier completed his life's work 70 years ago. Chandigarh is a controversial synthesis of the arts, a bold utopia of modernity. The film accompanies four cultural workers who live in the planned city and reflects on Le Corbusier's legacy, utopian urban ideas and the cultural differences between East and West in an atmospherically dense narrative.

DIVINE MYSTICS: ANOTHER SIDE OF ISLAM

Invalid Date

A documentary on sufism

Mediterranean Holiday

1962

A 1962 West German documentary film directed by Hermann Leitner and Rudolf Nussgruber.

The Real Blair Witch

2003

A group of teenagers from Flint, Michigan filmed themselves kidnapping and terrorizing a new acquaintance, before taking her out to a woods and dumping her in a shallow grave. They then taunted their terrified and blindfolded victim asking if she had any last requests before they cut her throat. But was the kidnap real or just a game? Three days later the tape was in the hands of the police and the 5 teenager friends were in custody facing life imprisonment. This program talks to the people at the heart of this story - including two of the defendants - in an attempt to understand what really happened in the woods around Flint last year. It also screens the video of the 'abduction'. What is revealed is an extraordinary and disturbing record of a night when something went terribly, terribly wrong.

India on Film: 1899 – 1947

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.

Nehru

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.

Rumer Godden: An Indian Affair

1995

Rumer Godden the 88 year old author is taken back to India, where she lived from 1908-1945 to revisit her unconventional life there and to share with her daughter the experiences which inform all her writing.

Maya, la tigresse du Maharashtra

2020