BBC: The Twenties in Colour (2007)

BBC documentary series examining Albert Kahn's ambitious 'Archives of the Planet' project, in which he sent photographers around the world to document all aspects of human life.

Episode 1 : Europe - After the Fire
When the Armistice was signed in November 1918, Kahn's team photographed the scenes of jubilation in Paris. Their cameras also witnessed the negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference and recorded the horrifying aftermath of four years of war.

Episode 2 : Middle East: The Birth of Nations
Defeat in WW1 led to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and its former provinces came under British and French control - though as the occupying troops arrived, the people of present-day Syria, Lebanon and Palestine were already entertaining hopes that they would be able to govern themselves. Kahn's cameras were present as these new nations were born.

Episode 3 : Far East - Expeditions to Empires
Between 1914 and 1928, Kahn sent some of his most talented photographers to the Far East. In Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan, they produced a compelling photographic record of economic and cultural life, subsistence industries, and ceremonial practices, and produced a fascinating portrait of the life of a wealthy Maharajah in India during the British Raj.


Episode 4 : The End of a World
Features the films shot by Lucien Le Saint with the French fishing fleets in the waters of Newfoundland; the film and colour autochromes shot by Frederic Gadmer during his visit to record voodoo religious practices in Benin; and the experimental colour films produced by Camille Sauvageot in 1928 depicting the lives of French farmers, gypsies and bullfighters.