Best Documentary Movies of 1925

A little girl watches the craftsman at work while inter-titles explain the particulars of pottery-making.

IN THE LAND OF GIANT PYGMIES, a diary of Aurelio Rossi's 1925 trek into the immense Belgian Congo, preserves a long-gone-Colonial-era wonder at natural resources, "primitive" tribes, customs and costumes in Europe's cast African possessions, and implies that the "dark continent" could benefit from the "civilizing" influences of home.

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.

A snapshot of life in a village in the Punjab - from the production of mustard oil to the shoeing of a bullock. With intertitles that include such jewels as "they do a great deal of spinning," it's clear that this film was made to be shown to young audiences. From the repetition of the opening title sequence it would appear that the original film was later re-edited.

Two ladies dress to go out and then check over a crop of rice.

An extremely brief rundown of the history and construction of the lunch wagon, commonly found on studio lots-- that still manages to fit in a little comedy.