Made by the RWU (see below), this silent German film shows the lives of farmers (or “Fellah”) living in Northern Egypt near Cairo and likely dates to the 1930s or early 1940s. Some of the scenes include life along the Nile, camels and Bedouins, typical homes and making of mud bricks and clay pots, grinding of flour using a stone wheel and preparation of food, and it ends with scenes of women washing their clothes in the river.
Fellah (Arabic: فلاح, fallāḥ; plural Fellaheen or Fellahin, Arabic: فلاحين, fallāḥīn) is a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for “ploughman” or “tiller”. A fellah could be seen wearing a simple cotton robe called galabieh (jellabiya). The word Galabieh originated around 1715–25 and derived from the Egyptian Arabic word gallabīyah (جلابية).
Comprising 60% of the Egyptian population,[8] the fellahin lead humble lives and continue to live in mud-brick houses like their ancient ancestors.[citation needed] Their percentage was much higher in the early 20th century, before the large influx of Egyptian fellahin into urban towns and cities. In 1927, anthropologist Winifred Blackman, author of The Fellahin of Upper Egypt, conducted ethnographic research on the life of Upper Egyptian farmers and concluded that there were observable continuities between the cultural and religious beliefs and practices of the fellahin and those of ancient Egyptians.
The Reichstelle für den Bildungsfilm ( RfdU ), renamed Reichsanstalt für Film und Bild in Science and Education ( RWU ) in 1940, was a center for the production of teaching films in the National Socialist German Reich and an instrument for the equalization of German education and training based in Berlin .
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
