At the intersection of visual culture, anthropology and travel, expedition cinema flourished in the inter-war period. This production was based on the then-popular practice of expeditions, which not only acted as modes of travel, but also served as a means of knowledge production and, via their ‘by-products’ (films, books, conferences, etc.), as a form of popular entertainment. Produced by both professionals and amateurs, travellers and anthropologists, expedition cinema is characterised by a hybrid genre somewhere between documentaries and fiction, entertainment and educational films. A junction between scientific research and popular entertainment within the specific context of colonial empires, this production helped shaped both anthropology as a discipline and the geo-anthropological imagination of the general public.
Accompanied by a programme of silent films on the origins of expedition cinema as well as an exhibition at the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé and in the Jacques Kerchache Reading Room at the musée du quai Branly, these study days seek to restore a place for this hybrid corpus of film history, popular entertainment and ethnographic films, without erasing its colonial dimension. Organised in two stages, they aim to draw a map and establish a definition of the genre by questioning its origins and the way it operates while also concentrating on its ‘golden age’, notably through two examples: the Citroën Croisière Jaune [Yellow Cruise] and Croisière Noire [Black Cruise] excursions. 

At the end of the study day, screening of La Croisière Jaune a film by André Sauvage, France, shot 1931, first shown 1934, 1hr36, NB, French version, HD digital media. Distributor Gaumont Pathé Archive

On 4 April 1931, the Central Asian Citroen expedition set off on the caravan route to cross Asia, from the Mediterranean to the China Sea. Two groups, connected by wireless, let one from Beirut under the command of Georges-Marie Haardt, and the other from China with Victor Point. Travelling aboard fourteen Citroën half-track vehicles, the members of the expedition crossed the desert regions of Syria and Baghdad. In Tehran, they were welcomed by the Crown Prince of Persia. Wherever they went, their arrival was greeted with celebrations, games and traditional dances. After Afghanistan and Pakistan, the climb through the Himalayas slowed their progress. Haardt, alerted by Victor Point of his imprisoned in Sinkiang, set out to rescue him. In October, the two groups met up in Ouroumtsi. They crossed the Chinese border, the Gobi desert, Mongolia and, after ten months of tenacity and perseverance, arrived in Peking (Beijing) on 12 February 1932. There they were greeted by the French diplomatic representative. The Sino-Japanese conflict prevented them from continuing their journey. Georges-Marie Haardt died on 16 March 1932 in Hong Kong (Summary Archives du Film - CNC).