Between Europe and India: Representations of the Exotic in the Cinema (Balkan Readings Around Himanshu Rai and Franz Osten)

The article is a study of various publications from the specialized cinema press and archival documents regarding the presence of Indian cinema in Bulgaria. The period studied is primarily between the two world wars, with a focus on problems of film distribution and promotion problems, as well as the stereotypical emphasis on the exotic. The text centers on the work of Himanshu Rai as a producer and director who collaborated closely with the German director Franz Osten. The films explored in order to outline the Balkan context of European distribution are sourced from Bulgarian and Croatian sources (held in the Jugoslovenska kinoteka – The State Audiovisual Film Archive of Serbia). The list of selected films includes “The Light of Asia” (1925), “Shiraz” (1928), “A Throw of Dice” (1929).