This film is part of Free

Title of error

See Help

An Eastern Market

Documentary detailing a farmer’s visit to the market in Rawalpindi

Travelogue 1928 9 mins Silent

Overview

This documentary focuses on the farmers and markets in Punjab. We join a farmer "heading to Rawal Pindi... with a friend" (his goat). The film shows farmers, herders, loggers and women, giving an overview of the market town and goods for sale such as green corn and rock salt. It takes a cynical view of a medicine man purportedly selling cures. The influence of geographer James Fairgrieve is visible, with the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables among the locals attributed to the high temperature of the Punjab.

The film culminates in the evening call to prayers at the Juma Mosque, and to Hindus at a nearby temple. The film seems to have been shot as a quasi-ethnographic account of an average day in the life of a farmer on market day. It captures the contrasts that the Punjab offers with its agrarian economy and the trade from country to town. It also shows the architectural detail of the Juma mosque. An Eastern Market formed part of an 'Empire Series' issued by British Instructional Films, Britain's pre-eminent documentary producers at this time. Dr. Amina Yaqin (SOAS University of London)

Genres

Travelogue

Country

United Kingdom

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

British Raj Rawalpindi Farming Markets Mosques Hinduism Temples Brushes

Watch for free

Kagan Valley Kagan Valley

Amateur film 1931 15 mins

Amateur travelogue of the Kagan Valley and Darband, Pakistan.

Watch for free

Lahore - Badshahi Mosque Lahore - Badshahi Mosque

Amateur film 1933 7 mins Silent

Extraordinary home movie footage of prayers in the Punjabi capital

Watch for free

Our Garden - Jhelum Our Garden - Jhelum

Amateur film 1945 12 mins Silent

This amateur film captures Colonel and Mrs Lord's garden at Jhelum, as well as soldiers at Karachi.

Watch for free

Life in Hunza Life in Hunza

Amateur film 1937 11 mins Silent

Fertility rites and wine production: life in the Hunza valley in northern Pakistan.

Watch for free

Indian Life Indian Life

Amateur film 1940 18 mins Silent

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

Watch for free

Baluchistan Baluchistan

Travelogue 1928 10 mins Silent

The ‘wild’ frontier of India’s north west

Watch for free

New Perspectives: La Haine New Perspectives: La Haine

Short documentary 2025 4 mins

Charlie Hammersley, a student from Northumbria University, explains how Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film holds up a mirror to society.

Watch for free

Dreamers Q&A Dreamers Q&A

Inside Film 2025 30 mins

The film-makers behind a haunting tale of love and community within a UK immigration detention centre visited the BFI Southbank to discuss their film.