Mahatma Gandhi Noa Khali March (1947)

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)


Rarely seen footage of Gandhi filmed by his great nephew, Kanu.

The film shows Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to Noakhali, now in Bangladesh, after the Hindu-Muslim riots (variously known as the Calcutta riots and the Noakhali Massacre) in 1946. The film includes shots of Susheela Nayar (Gandhi’s doctor), Mann Gandhi (his granddaughter) and Jawaharlal Nehru. The film was shot by Kanu Gandhi - Gandhi's great nephew. Kanu was a member of Gandhi's personal staff and they worked closely together until his assassination on 30 January 1948.

Kanu was one of the most important chroniclers of Gandhi’s life. He was given his first stills camera in 1936 and began to document the great man’s final years on three conditions: that he would not use flash photography; that the ashram would not fund him and that Gandhi would never pose. He had exclusive access to Gandhi and was therefore able to capture shots that would elude any other photographers. Kanu’s photographs formed the basis of a number of the shots in Richard Attenborough’s biopic, Gandhi (1982).

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