One More Voice curates links to a small selection of relevant, publicly-available motion pictures and sound recordings. The selection is by no means comprehensive and does not seek to be so. Rather, the selection offers site visitors an opportunity to move beyond One More Voice's primary focus on visual materials and written texts (recovered texts and book-length works), and, in some cases, to see and hear the individuals who feature elsewhere on the site.
The motion picture section also suggests further areas for investigation by scholars, teachers, and students. In fact, part of this section's critical intervention centers on introducing such items to audiences who may not be familiar with them. For historical context, the section also includes links to a small set of British-led colonial films. We welcome suggestions for additional items or categories of items to include in this section. Site visitors might also want to consult the Colonial Film project and the British Film Institute's India: 1899-1947 collection.
Special thanks to Philip Allfrey for helping with the accessibility coding for this page and to Mary Borgo Ton, director of Shining Lights, and Tom Rice, author of Films for the Colonies, for assisting with relevant research.
Creative Works
29:47
Chitraa, the Play
Author: Rabindarath Tagore
Directors: Prataya Saha and Shatarupa Bhattacharyya
Dates: 2020 [1913]
link to external site
36:19
Mr. Mensah Builds a House
Director: Sean Graham
Production Company: Gold Coast Film Unit
Date: 1955
link to external site
23:12
Progress in Kojokrom
Production Company: Gold Coast Film Unit
Date: 1953
link to external site
01:00:19
The Boy Kumasenu
Director: Sean Graham
Production Company: Gold Coast Film Unit
Date: 1952
07:15
Tins for India
Director: Bimal Roy
Date: 1941
12:02
Two
Director: Satyajit Ray
Date: 1964
link to external site
19:05
Wives of Nendi
Directors: Stephen Peet; Mai Magwende (uncredited)
Production Company: Central African Film Unit
Date: 1949
Historical Footage
01:08
Sarojini Naidu
Title: Movietone Interview
Date: 26 May 1930
01:25
Sarojini Naidu
Title: Introduces M.S. Subbulakshmi in the Film Meera
Date: 1947
03:04
Rabindarath Tagore
Title: Rare Clips Compilations
Dates: 1930; 1930; 1930; 1921; 1926
01:08
Rabindarath Tagore
Title: India’s Great Poet Sends a Message to America; Tagore Viewing the Thermae of Caracalla, in Rome, Italy
Dates: 5 May 1930; 7 June 1926
Historical Recordings
03:12
Claude McKay
Title: Reads “If We Must Die,” “St. Issac’s Church,” and “The Tropics in New York”
Date: Early 1940s
01:50
Menelik II
Title: The Voice of Ethiopian King Emperor Menelik II [Phonograph Message to Queen Victoria]
British non-fictional film, originally produced for the British empire Exhibition of 1924-25 and then played on the educational film circuit in Britain; depicts scenes of African industry, albeit very much in relation to British economic interests.
link to external site
37:31
Daybreak in Udi
Director: Terry Bishop
Production Company: Ministry of Information / Central Office of Information
Date: 1949
Notes:
British documentary that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1950.
link to external site
00:39
Landing of Savage South Africa at Southampton
Date: 1899
Notes:
Very early representation of Africans (in England). Also see Nadi Kaabe Linke's work in reclaiming the personal histories of individuals in this film.
link to external site
01:09:27
Nionga
Date: 1925
Notes:
British fictional film, among the earliest shot in Africa; includes an all-African cast.
link to external site
12:01
Tropical Hookworm
Director: Leslie A. Notcutt
Production Company: Bekefilm
Date: 1936
Notes:
Among the earliest examples of a British film made specifically for African audiences.
Research & Teaching
link to external site
Undisciplining the Victorian Classroom
Section: Zoomcasts
Date: 2021-22
08:28
Nikki Hessell
Title: Nikki Hessell, English, Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Organization: Keats-Shelley Association of America
