Rice Cultivation New Territories 1938/9

A study of Chinese peasant labour in the paddy fields of the New Territories, north of Hong Kong Island.

This amateur film investigates how rice is grown in the rural valleys of the New Territories, north of Hong Kong Island. The film traces the lifecycle of the crop, from ploughing and planting to harvesting and threshing. But this is no study of agricultural science – with the camera transfixed on the farmers’ back-breaking work, the film is testament to the hardships of peasant life.

Amateur filmmaker A. J. Hall shot a number of films in and around Hong Kong in the late 1930s.