A Treasure Trove of Archival Footage from Around the World

I recently came across a YouTube channel, the Travel Film Archive, with over 300 short videos featuring archival footage from around the world, from the city streets of Trinidad, 1938, to the Ituri Forest in Africa, 1929; from the New York subway, 1905, to the Sahara Desert, 1953, or Sri Lanka, 1932. Much of the footage is silent, with only title frames to describe the location or action, but some is accompanied by documentary style voiceover. One James A. Fitzpatrick, something like the Rick Steves of his day, is a frequent narrator.

The footage itself, along with the commentary, is a fascinating glimpse into the past, a window on how people lived 60 or 90 years ago. We see bits of fading or vanished cultural practices in their local context, from a time when they were still real: Native Americans in Idaho in full feathered regalia, participating in a drumming ceremony; Australian Aborigines painted in white stripes, throwing boomerangs; Alpine Germans carving wood and staging the Passionsspiele; young Tahitian women dressed to pass as their French colonizers; life in a Sinhalese village, when coconut was king and people remained happily unfettered by excessive clothing.

Though the commentary will strike the modern viewer as naive, amusing, or poorly informed about the world (perhaps even offensive), one can't also help but be impressed by the boldness of those who endured the foreign climates and conditions, huge heavy cameras in tow, to learn something about other peoples and produce what's clearly meant to be a mind-expanding educational experience for the millions back home, who would never in their lifetimes have opportunity for such adventure themselves. The power of such films to transport us and bring us the mysteries of the world today is damped by the ubiquity of images and information. But I imagine that in their day, these gems must have gone some way toward enriching the lives and minds of their viewers.

The collection also provides a window on how Westerners (mostly Americans, here, it seems) thought of Others in those days, how little they saw as they looked on so earnestly. What struck me generally, as I watched and sampled many videos, was the way that things have changed as much as they have remained the same.

The full range of videos is definitely worth perusing. Here are a few random highlights that may be of interest to readers of this blog:

Benares and the Ganges River 1931 in which we are treated to some dubious history and the observation that a single life and death must mean little to those who believe in multiple lives and deaths, and wonderfully familiar footage of Benares (Varanasi). (Voiceover narration)

Tibet - Land of Isolation 1934 in which we see the as yet unspoiled vistas of Tibetan mountainscapes, meadows, and monasteries, plus scenes from the yak-herding life and Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. (Silent, raw footage)

Lion-Tiger Fight 1946 in which we learn just how little chance those poor beasts had against the wall of hunters who came after them, and witness a rare spectacle: the titanic clash between a lion and a tiger in Gir Forest (Gujurat). Given the vantage of the camera in some shots, it's not clear to what extent the action here may be authentic or staged. (Silent, narration in title frames)

Japan in Cherry Blossom Time 1932 in which we celebrate the arboreal beauty of Japan alongside its urban modernity, in addition to notes on the wonders of Shintoism. (Voiceover narration)

Comments

[Ruchira]

Thanks, Usha. A treasure trove indeed. Will need some more time to explore.

At the beginning of the Benares video, the narrator says:

Perhaps in the whole world there is no stranger manifestation of human faith in the supernatural than that is witnessed here on the banks of the sacred Ganges.

A bit rich coming from a commentator who presumably belonged to a tradition whose articles of faith include virgin birth and post mortem resurrection.

The pathetic "cat fight" was surely staged by the cowardly humans. What a waste of the gorgeous animals!

The film of Japan is so beautiful that it too looks staged and fabricated like a film set. But then I have always marveled at Japan's ability to come across as Disney World masquerading as a nation, where the ultra modern fits in seamlessly with the traditional. It is funny how at the port in Yokohama, before boarding the ship, the narrator speaks of returning to the "western world," almost as if he's traveling to another planet. We have come a long way in our perception of the world.

[Usha]

Glad you enjoyed the short videos, Ruchira. It's interesting how far we've come, indeed.

In spite of the general naivete and lack of self-reflection on the part of the filmmakers, though, I think they did a remarkable job for their time and place. They portray the local people and places as attractively as they can (by their own standards, naturally), even if their only idea of how to do this was to make them all "cute." Still, I would have expected a less generous attitude from Americans in the 30s and 40s. Also, I'm struck by the herculean effort that would have gone into the production of many of these films. Not just the physical labor and discomfort endured by the videographers, but also the mind-bending artistic decisions they must have had to make in attempting to capture scenes so unfamiliar to themselves, figuring out how to use the new-ish medium of film to make disorienting material accessible and interesting to audiences even less worldly than themselves.

Surprisingly, the later ones, from the 50s and early 70s, feel more "dumbed down" and canned than some of the earliest ones, which seem more full of raw wonder and awe.