This film is part of Free
My Oriental Friends, From Penang to Peking
This unique and beautiful tour of Southeast Asia and China is a treasure trove of picturesque views of Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
Overview
An oddity - this unique and beautiful tour of Southeast Asia and China wasn't actually made for the cinema. Its picturesque views of Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing were collected by director Selwyn Driver, a musical comedian by trade, for his "lecture-entertainments": illustrated talks that were "delightfully artistic, musical, poetical, human, humorous, and yet definitely cultural."
The film would have been projected as background for Driver's own repertoire of jokes, "shrewd observations", sketches, and piano interventions - and delivered, apparently, with "verve and raciness" on Britain's university and private school lecture circuit. Not that you'd have guessed it - these sombre images have an austere fascination with poverty and Oriental 'otherness' that is typical of the most serious 1920s travelogues.
Related
Modern China Modern China
Non-Fiction 1910 8 mins Silent Location: Beijing
Extraordinary and exquisite views of life and landscape in Beijing during the late Qing dynasty.
Peking and Its Surroundings Peking and Its Surroundings
Travelogue 1910 6 mins Location: Qinglongqiao
The austere beauty of the Great Wall of China's rugged mountain passes, in a travelogue tracing a caravan of camels' journey to Beijing.
Beijing - Coal Hill Street Scenes and the Forbidden City Beijing - Coal Hill Street Scenes and the Forbidden City
Amateur film 1938 15 mins Silent Location: Beijing
This delightful colour film features Beijing's Forbidden City, the Summer and Winter palaces as well as parks, processions, a drama school and a Chinese picnic.
Visit to Beijing and the Forbidden City Visit to Beijing and the Forbidden City
Amateur film 1929 2 mins Silent Location: Beijing
Beijing's Forbidden City is the star attraction in this film from the late 1920s, featuring historic buildings, the Lion's Gate and an early panorama across the city.
Summer Palace Beijing and Tsientsin Summer Palace Beijing and Tsientsin
Amateur film 1929 3 mins Silent Location: Beijing
Dancing bears and camels feature in views of Beijing's Summer Palace in the late 1920s filmed by an expat couple who are later seen enjoying a traditional Chinese meal.
Wanderings in Peking Wanderings in Peking
Amateur film 1939 11 mins Silent Location: Taimiao (Imperial Ancestral Temple)
These wanderings of an amateur filmmaker take in city streets, markets and Chinese acrobats in lively 1930s Beijing.
Shantou, China c.1932 Shantou, China c.1932
Amateur film 1932 11 mins Silent Location: Hong Kong
Home-movie snapshots of life and work in Shantou in Guangdong Province, South China.
Cine Snapshots - 1937 Cine Snapshots - 1937
Amateur film 1937 32 mins Silent Location: Hong Kong
Vivid views of pre-war Hong Kong.
Hong Kong East Meets West Hong Kong East Meets West
Documentary 1940 24 mins Silent Location: Hong Kong
This intimate study of Hong Kong explores the life and landscape of the former British colony in exquisite detail.
Hong Kong Happenings Hong Kong Happenings
Home movie 1938 13 mins Silent Location: Hong Kong
Striking snapshots of life in a colonial outpost in the 1930s.
A Gate of China A Gate of China
Documentary 1927 9 mins Silent Location: Hong Kong
Staggering views of 1920s Hong Kong capture the contradictory cocktail of East meets West on this outpost island.
Hong Kong Happenings Part 2 Hong Kong Happenings Part 2
Amateur film 1937 9 mins Silent Location: Lai Chi Kok
Scenes of typhoon-torn Hong Kong captured by a local resident.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.