This film is part of Free
Unidentified Chinese Men (c.1900)
How did these Chinese gentlemen end up in a Blackburn basement?
Overview
How did these Chinese gentlemen end up in a Blackburn basement? There were many puzzles among the hundreds of rolls of Mitchell and Kenyon's films rediscovered in 1995, and this is perhaps the greatest. The subjects seem genuinely Chinese, but who filmed them, when and where? We're certain it wasn't shot by Mitchell and Kenyon. Is it China at all? Perhaps the cameraman's flying hat is a clue.
The architecture and grounds of the second building seem incongruously western, throwing doubt on the location, although western style buildings were far from unknown in early 20th century China. The film was shot on Lumière film stock, so it may be that Mitchell and Kenyon had bought, borrowed or acquired it to show along side their own. M&K certainly never visited China, but Lumière had several cameramen there from the late 1890s, which could make these some of the oldest surviving filmed images of China. If only we could be sure...
Related
Breakers Breakers
Non-Fiction 1896 0 mins Silent
A handful of passers-by watch waves breaking gently onto a shore
Panorama of the Ophir Before Leaving Sydney Harbour Panorama of the Ophir Before Leaving Sydney Harbour
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins
See the royal yacht Ophir at anchor in Sydney Harbour on its tour of the Empire
Wedding Ceremony in a Church Wedding Ceremony in a Church
1900 2 mins Silent
Who doesn't love a wedding? This breezy film squeezes the whole service into two minutes flat
Crude Set Drama Crude Set Drama
Comedy 1896 1 mins Silent
A basic bit of early comic storytelling on film
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.