South Asian Britain on Film

Discover a rich history reaching back over a century as we celebrate South Asian communities and culture across Britain.

From local news to feature film, through home movies and TV documentaries, this collection showcases South Asian Britons in front of and behind the camera. The contribution of colonial troops is illuminated through the earliest newsreels, while hardhitting current affairs programmes highlight the struggles faced in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond. Public information films produced for South Asian audiences feature alongside Hindi-language films made in Britain and interviews with prominent Asian-British figures. A bold wave of British Asian filmmaking in the 1990s is represented through early works by the likes of Gurinder Chadha and Asif Kapadia.

74 items in this collection

Sikh Matron

The Referee

Asian Pub Landlord

Britain's oldest mosque welcomes a vast crowd of worshippers, visitors, curious onlookers and the odd newsreel camera!

An Oriental Atmosphere Topical Budget 875-2

Gandhi in England British Screen News No. 335

Shakti

A Safe Place to Be

Indian Businessman

Bollywood-on-Thames: East meets West in a tale of two loves in 70s London

Pasand Apni Apni

Pasand Apni Apni (Trailer)

The Waiting Room

Insaaf

Tariq Ali

Dilip Hiro

London Me Bharat (1972) India in London

It's twistin' time! Wander in and celebrate Trev's 21st birthday in this fly-on-the-wall film.

Trev's 21st 1963

Defending a Way of Life

Naz

New law targets discrimination in housing and employment in this eye-opening public information film.

Race Relations Board

See for Yourself!

Leamington Spa Race Relations

Pakistani Bus Driver

Credo[12/11/78]

English As a Second Language (First and Second Phase Teaching)

Like Me

Benares Carpet Weaver in Exeter

A Mosque in the Park

Indian Bands for Wembley Topical Budget 658-1

For the Aga Khan's Prize Topical Budget 958-2

Indian Tales

Asian Arranged Marriages

Arranged Marriages

New Ways

Growing Day by Day

Skin Deep

The Sheep Thief

A New Kind of Match

Ugandan Asians at Houndstone Camp

Ugandan Asians at Plasterdown Camp

Uganda Asians

Ugandan Asians at Heathfield Camp

Exodus - Uganda

Out of the Darkness

A Sikh Wedding in Exeter

Gaumont Graphic No. 373

British News No. 2

British News No. 53

Indian Classical Dance

Asian Fashions

Dance, music and celebrations at the Folklore Festival

Sri Lankan Kandyan Dance Troop at Sidmouth

A Love Supreme

Asian Jewellery

Young working class Londoners fight racism with the power of rock and reggae in this anarchic documentary.

Divide and Rule - Never!

Arts Centre

Asian Community Centre

Asian Cultural Centre opens in Peterborough

Peterborough's Playbus offers a fun and welcoming space for ethnic minority families to improve their English language skills.

Peterborough Playbus

Indian 11th Republic Day Celebrations at Leicester

Immigration Control

Surviving Sabu

The beginning of a Mancunian tradition - could this be the first Moss Side Carnival?

Alexandra Park Pageant, 27 June 1970

Guru blessing - Councillors join a religious reading at the Guru Arjan Niwas Sikh Temple on Clifton Street in Exeter

Exeter Councillors' Sikh Temple Visit

Schools for Moslems

The UK's first purpose-built mosque welcomes a huge crowd of worshippers - and newsreel cameras!

Feast of eid-ul-fitr Topical Budget 663-1

A historic occasion in Southfields as London's first mosque is officially opened.

Islam in London Topical Budget 789-1

Indian Sweets

No Virginity, No Nationality

The Indian Review - Grand March past of the Forty Indian Regiments

Working to a Pattern

An appeal to Muslims to come and work in Manchester.

Moslems in Britain - Manchester

Moslems in Britain - Places

Perky presenter Gamal Kinnay extols the joys of industrial Cardiff, in this recruitment film designed to encourage Arab workers to come to Britain.

Moslems in Britain - Cardiff

Ugandan Asians in Leicester

Moslems in Britain - People