The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Der Klosterjäger: Cult Guide

Dir: Franz Osten

A historical romance set in the Mughal Empire. Selima (Enakshi) is a princess-foundling raised by a potter and loved by her brother, Shiraz (Rai). She is abducted and sold as a slave to Prince Khurram, later Emperor Shah Jehan (Roy), who falls for her, to the chagrin of the wily Dalia (Seeta Devi). When Selima is caught with Shiraz, the young man is condemned to be trampled to death by an elephant. A pendant reveals Selima's royal status and she saves her brother, marries the prince and becomes Empress Mumtaz Mahal while Dalia is banned for her machinations against Selima. When Selima dies (1629), the emperor builds her a monument to the design of the now old and blind Shiraz, the Taj Mahal. The film contains a number of passionate kissing scenes.

Dir: Franz Osten

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Judas of Tyrol perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

An Austrian farmhand betrays a nationalist rebel to the invading Napoleonic troops,in exchange for money he can use to become a landowner.

Dir: Franz Osten

An "untouchable" girl and a Brahmin boy fall in love, but the strict caste system and the gossip of the villagers threaten to keep them apart.

Dir: Franz Osten

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Achhut Kanya perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

In this comedy, a simple inn in the mountains is transformed into a grand hotel.

Dir: Franz Osten

A power struggle between mountain peasants who have been raising milk cows on common land and a village bailiff trying to gain power driving them off the land. Both have a ducal documents that states the opposite.

Dir: Franz Osten

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Prince Seppl perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Franz Osten

After another successful performance at the Teatro Real, opera singer Carlo Baloni decides to spend the evening at a cabaret. The beautiful Giuseppa, with her amazing voice, appears on stage.

Dir: Franz Osten

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Great Cattle War perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Franz Osten

A nationalist rural drama- Janmabhoomi was the first patriotic Hindi movie. The plot has Dr. Ajay Ghosh and his girl friend Protima working to improve the lives of Indian villagers, incurring the enmity of the local zamindar and his vicious, scheming henchman Sanatan. Ajay's relentless goodness eventually persuades the zamindar to bequeath his property to the hero, and general well-being reigns as class conflict is transmuted into class collaboration. The film includes the nationalist song 'Jai jai janani janmabhoomi' and other choruses with a similar thrust.

Dir: Franz Osten

This adaptation of Arnold's 1861 Orientalist epic opens with documentary shots of tourists in Bombay watching street performers. Then a white-bearded old man sitting under the bodhi tree tells the tourists the story of Gautama (Rai), son of King Suddodhana (Ukil) and Queen Maya (Bala), who left his consort Gopa (Seeta) and became a wandering teacher credited with founding Buddhism. The religious epic, with its idealized figures, takes up the narrative in flashback and ends with Gopa kneeling before Gautama asking to become his disciple.