Amateur film without titles shot by Bandsman Mr T A Link of 2nd Battalion Welch Regiment records soldiers ...
Empire and Leisure
Whether riding for hog in India or fishing with dynamite in the Solomon Islands, many of these films show the colonial classes at play. They also highlight for a British audience the adoption in the colonies of certain British pastimes such as cricket and football. The popularity of these sports served to foster an image of Imperial unity, presenting the British ideals of sportsmanship and fairness in operation throughout the Empire. Other established forms of institutionalised mass entertainment were exported into the colonies, from military variety shows to film screenings. Once more, these forms of leisure were imagined both as a means of entertainment and as an instrument of colonial governance.
The Colonial Film website is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and features films from the British Film Institute, the Imperial War Museum, and the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum.
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