1953 LIFE IN THE SAHARA DESERT FILM BEDOUINS, ARTESIAN WELLS & OASIS DOCUMENTARY 46554

Life In The Sahara is a short 1953 film from Encyclopaedia Britannica Films that gives viewers a glimpse of life in the Sahara Desert in the 1950s, touching on the geography of the region as well as the people who live there. The film opens with shots of the Sahara Desert, including sand dunes, mountains, and salty flats (00:22; 01:05). Massive sand dunes tower above the desert floor (01:27; 13:52). Wind blows sand along desert, making travel no easy task. A train moves along one of the few railways (01:48) that penetrate the Sahara. Dirt roads are marked by rock piles (02:06) to prevent winds and sand from erasing them. At a Saharan airstrip, people board a plane (02:23); aerial footage from the window of the plane shows the desert with a few mountains jutting into the sky (02:35). At a small village in the Sahara (02:44), children run in the courtyard and women cross a stream. People make clay bricks, which are used to build homes (03:18). In the market square, men make slippers (03:40), farm goods are traded, and metal ware is purchased. A man uses camels to haul goods to remote places in the desert (04:20), passing what appears to be a tiny mosque. Camels eat during a break from the trek. Men ride camels and guide camel caravans. A rare grassy plain at the foot of a mountain (05:24) provides grass for goats tended to by nomads. Nomads set up camp (05:58), putting up a tent to protect them from desert winds, then hang water bags and prepare food. A nomad woman turns wool into yarn (06:55). An oasis (07:22) provides water, allowing the people here to grow fruit and grains. Palm tree groves (08:19) provide shade, fuel, and building materials. A man climbs a date palm to harvest dates (08:53); the dates are then dried. The film shows footage of a village next to the oasis (09:37). Springs provide water to the people who live here. Artesian wells are another source of water (10:42). Well divers (11:08) use a guide rope to descend the well to remove sand clogs. The film concludes with shots of water sources and irrigation troughs at the oasis, and similar footage found in the beginning of the film, including a car driving on a sandy road, a shot of a train and a plane, and several shots of the people of the Sahara living life in the massive desert.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com