An Eastern Market (1928) - filmed in Rawalpindi

Part of India on Film: 1899 – 1947
This collection of newly digitised films is part of the BFI's contribution to the UK-India Year of Culture 2017, in partnership with the British Council. View more films on BFI Player http://player.bfi.org.uk/collections/... (UK only)


Ethnographic film detailing a farmer’s visit to the market in Rawalpindi, India.

This entry in the ‘Empire Series’ 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 an ethnographic account of an average day in the life of a farmer on market day. The film captures the contrasts that the Punjab offers with its agrarian economy and the trade from rural to urban settings. It also shows the architectural detail of the Juma mosque.


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