Bowlby Collection

Bowlby Collection – Film 3

B&W. 16:44min. Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). 1939. Film made by Major H.S. Bowlby. European and Burmese people gathered at an aerodrome; KLM plane on site.; planes flying in formation. Rowing competition on (Rangoon?) river. Portraits of villagers and fishing scenes in Gyobyn. Building a railway bridge. Scenes of various animals at a Zoo. Street scenes (Rangoon?). Mr Bowlby practicing golf strokes. Street scenes – possibly Rangoon. Tennis game. Lake scenes with sailing boats in the background. Street scenes (Rangoon?). Amah and baby. European family posing with Amah and children. Porters unlading a car. Official gathering (welcome party?) – possibly at the Burma Oil Company HQ in Yenangyaung. Man practicing golf strokes (scenes in slow motion).

Bowlby Collection – Film 2

B&W. 8:52min. Burma (Myanmar). 1939. Film made by Major H.S. Bowlby. Picnic ad bazaar scenes. Boat ferrying a car and goods along the river. Cars being let past a control barrier. More bazaaer scenes with portraits of various Burmese people. Cars and ox-pulled carts passing underneath an ancient stone arch. Men sitting next to a geyser. A brief portrait of a Dayak man with tattooed shoulders and back, carrying his machete (parang). Oxen train carrying wicker baskets on a mountainous path. Porters resting. Bus ferried along the Yangon (Rangoon) river. Bazaar scenes of various produce, vendors and craftsmen.

Bowlby Collection – Film 1

B&W. 16:52min. Rangoon, Shan State (Myanmar). 1940. Film made by Major H.S. Bowlby. Start of a journey by car. Road signs – State boundary; Burma. Federated Shan States. Road scenes showing villagers, porters, various means of local transport. Steam engine on a small gauge rail track. Delivery cisterns for the Burma Oil Company (BOC). Burmese peasants riding water buffalos across a field. European family being served tea on a veranda. Views of a city filmed from atop a hill. Men leg-rowing. River scenes of men leg rowing and wooden houses on stilts. Leg rowing (boat) competition on Inle Lake during the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival attended by the Sawbwa of Yawnghwe, Sao Shwe Thaik, his wife, the Mahadevi of Yawnghwe Sao Hearn Hkam, and by Mrs and Mr Bowlby. Scenes of Burmese villagers. Game of cricket (possibly played at the Yenangyaung Club). Bazaar scenes.