Through the Back Door into India

An Englishman's eccentric road trip through Iran to Pakistan

The 'back door' is Iran, through which an intrepid Englishman travels by car, with dog, union flag and movie camera in tow. They arrive eventually in a part of British India that is now Pakistan. While this somewhat bonkers real-life road movie is undeniably laden with its share of unthinking imperialist assumptions, it also includes valuable, occasionally breathtaking, images of people and places.

The film was released as one of a series of 'Heart of Asia' travelogues by British Instructional Films, the 1920s' leading producer of non-fiction films for UK cinemas.