Adrian Cowell film and research collection, 1960-2007

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Cowell, Adrian
Title
Adrian Cowell film and research collection
Dates
1960-2007 (inclusive)
Quantity
68.05 cubic feet (61 boxes) including 770 sound reels (about 250 hours of sound recordings), 449 videotapes (that total approximately 225 hours of material), 9 boxes of photographic materials, and 27 boxes of manuscript material plus approximately 3,000 reels of 16mm film (totaling 1.2 million feet of film or over 560 hours of footage)
Collection Number
PH1262
Summary
Film footage, slides, photographs and written material produced by Adrian Cowell Southeast Asia, mostly from the Shan State in Burma from 1966 to 1996. Also includes a small amount of material from films documenting the Dutch New Guinea in 1960-1961.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The original films and duplicating master are not accessible due to preservation concerns. Arrangements can be made to view the film by contacting the Visual Materials Curator.

Records stored off-site; advance notice required for use.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for this finding aid is partially provided by Boojie Cowell and the Adrian Cowell Film Fund

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Adrian Cowell

Adrian Cowell was an influential and award-winning British documentary film maker. He is best known for his work on the Amazon rainforest and the tribes who lived there. These films and his writings brought the rainforest ecological crisis to the world’s attention, and spurred international action.

John Adrian Cowell was born February 2, 1934 in Tientsin (also known as Tianjin) in China [although some sources report his birthplace as Tangshan, a nearby town], where his British father, Edmund Cowell, worked in the coal mining industry. Adrian and his brother Christopher went to school abroad in Australia and England. They both attended Ambleforth College, a Catholic preparatory school in North Yorkshire. Adrian went on to St. Catherine’s College at Cambridge. In his first year, he ran the Cowell Oriental Trading Agency, which imported Chinese trinkets from Hong Kong and sold them to fellow undergraduates and shops in London. He also founded the Cambridge University Wine and Food Society. Cowell graduated in History in 1955.

Cowell’s first visit to Burma and introduction to filming was on the pioneering 1956 Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore, which he helped to organize. The team drove two Land Rovers from London overland on an epic perilous 12,000 mile journey to Burma and on to Singapore. Upon his return, Cowell was helped by Davis Attenborough to edit footage into three television programs which were aired on Attenborough’s BBC Travelers’ Tales series. The following year, the OxCam team undertook the 1957 Oxford and Cambridge Expedition to South America, where Cowell met the Villas brothers and made his first foray into the Brazilian rainforest. This was the beginning of his collaboration with the Villas brothers and his work about the Amazon rainforest. From 1959 to 1961, Cowell worked for ITN (Independent Television News) as Chief of the weekly series Roving Report. Among the programs directed by him are: " Mother Of Most Noble Rivers, " " Back Of Beyond " (1960), " Portrait Of Brazil, " " Caviar In The Caspian, " " Wild Goose Chase, " and " Land Beyond The Moon " (1961).

Cowell and cameraman Chris Menges (who later won two Oscars) returned to Asia several times over thirty years to document political, religious and opium issues. These films about Asia from 1966 to 1996 are the focus of this collection. In 1966, Cowell, together with Menges and George Patterson, became the first and only Westerners to venture into the remote Mustang region of Nepal. The three-man film team traveled with a group of nine Tibetan guerillas into Tibet and filmed their ambush of a Chinese truck convoy. According to some reports, the British government (secretly involved in the war) was alerted of this lapse in security and sent orders to intercept the team before they could leave Nepal, and relieve them of the footage at any cost, but the team and their footage were able to escape safely from Nepal. Another report tells of King Mahendra, the King of Nepal, ordering the Nepalese police to hunt them down. The film team escaped to the Indian border, where they were apprehended, after sending the film out safely. The resulting film, Raid into Tibet, was shown in Britain and the United States.

That same year, Cowell and Menges traveled to the remote Shan state in Burma, where they documented Shan people's insurgency against the military government. Their film The Unknown War introduced Western audiences to the guerilla war undertaken by Shan farmers-turned-fighters.

Also in 1966, Cowell and Menges produced the Light of Asia film series, three films which documented practices of Buddhism facing political change in Tibet, Thailand and Japan.

Cowell and Menges returned to the Shan state in the 1970s, where they revisited the ongoing Shan insurgency. In The Opium Warlords (1974), they introduced the complex role of the opium trade in financing the uprising. While shooting this film, they were trapped for eighteen months behind enemy lines. The Opium Warlords was a pilot for the Opium film series made in 1978. In this series, Cowell examined in depth the heroin economy in Hong Kong, the internal politics of the Shan warlords and their control of the opium trade, their remarkable offer to the United States government, and U.S. response. They returned in 1994 to film the Heroin Wars series, which revisited the subjects of the Opium series, and traced the developments in the complex relationship between the Shan insurgency and the war on drugs over 30 years

Adrian Cowell won numerous awards for his documentaries, including BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awarded in 1966 for The Opium Trail and 1978 for Opium. Cowell was also the author of numerous articles about the insurgency and drug trade in Burma, and two books on Brazilian Indians, The Heart of the Forest and The Tribe that Hides from Man. Adrian Cowell died of a heart attack Oct. 11, 2011 in London at, age 77.

Chris Menges

Cinematographer Chris Menges was born in 1940 in Kington, Herefordshire. At age 17, he went to work for documentary film maker Alan Forbes and was hired as an apprentice from 1958-60. In the 1960s he became a camera operator for Adrian Cowell's documentaries. In 1963 he joined the World in Action (a weekly current affairs documentary series) team at Granada-tv as cameraman and worked in the Cyprus civil war, the Angola civil war, the Zanzibar revolution, South Africa, and Algeria,, among other locations.

Menges has won many awards: several BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts, several NSFC (National Society of Film Critics), and several ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) awards. His first BAFTA nomination was in 1983 for the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero. His first Academy Award was for the 1984 film The Killing Fields, and his 2nd Oscar was in 1986 with the historical drama The Mission. His directional debut was A World Apart which was celebrated at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and won three major awards. He was nominated by the ASC in 1998 for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases for The Boxer. His 3rd Academy Award nomination was in 1997 for Michael Collins.

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

At the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia was dominated by the war in Viet Nam and the drug trade from the Shan region in Burma. After Burma's democratic election in 1960, the Burmese Army staged a coup d'etat in 1962, and instituted military rule, abolishing the constitution. Scholars of Southeast Asia have argued that it was during this cold war period the lawlessness and insurgency in Burma, together with U.S. covert war strategies in the region, helped to re-establish colonial-era networks of opium dependency and caused an upsurge of opium in the world market. For the Shan, the growing U.S. war-machine in Southeast Asia was regarded with both hope and fear; they too might cash in on anti-communist sentiment to support their separatist movement. Such involvement would have meant arms and economic aid, and most importantly in their minds, it would have meant diplomatic and international pressure on the Burmese junta to revert to a legitimate constitution. However, American drug policy priorities were focused on supporting the Burmese military government with aircraft to eradicate the trade. It is against this background of a contradictory covert and overt American presence in the region that Adrian Cowell's footage is set.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The majority of this collection documents the opium and insurgency in Burma from the 1960s to 1990. The collection consists of film footage (including over 850 reels of 16mm film, approximately 900 reels audiotape, and over 270 videotapes), written materials and slides acquired during three forays into the Shan State in Burma (Myanmar) by renowned filmmaker Adrian Cowell (1934-2011). The collection contains raw film footage of Cowell’s time spent “embedded” with various Shan insurgencies, including the Shan National Army in the 1960s, and 16 months that he and English cinematographer Christopher Menges ( The Killing Fields) spent with the Shan State Army in 1972-73. The enormous amount of footage includes interviews with Lo Hsin Han, Khun Sa and several insurgents and militia leaders, as well as footage of market towns in the Shan highlands, rebel camps, opium caravans and battles. Only a small portion of the footage was used Cowell’s BBC documentaries. The Shan State was virtually closed off to the outside world in the late 1950 to 2010, in part due to conflict. The Adrian Cowell Film and Research Collection is the most extensive collection of images and footage of the Shan State in the world. It contains film footage, photographs, extensive notes and other documents collected during Cowell’s trips documenting opium merchants, opium caravans, militias and insurgents and other activities related to the opium trade.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

In several cases, the same footage was used in many films, as Cowell revisited the themes in his documentaries over several years.

INVENTORY GLOSSARY
  • Project Elements - The assorted subordinate film and audio recordings generated in the production of a film project. The elements include a large amount of footage and audio recordings. While some elements were not used in the final cut, they remain valuable by providing insight into the conceptualization and construction of the final product.
  • Answer Print - The first composite (sound and picture) motion picture that is printed to film after color correction on an interpositive. It also refers to the first version of the movie printed to film with the sound properly synced to the picture.
  • D/P - Special coating on Eastman fine grain film.
  • Episode Print - A copy of a film made from a negative. Each episode is an individual television program that is part of a larger series or serial.
  • Filmstrip - A length of film containing still photographs, often of illustrations, diagrams, charts, etc., arranged in sequence for projection separately and used as a teaching aid.
  • FPS - Feet per second.
  • Release Print - A copy of a film made from a negative, especially a copy made for distribution.
  • SL - Slates.
  • Viewing copy - A copy of the release print made for patron access.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries. Some restrictions exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections for details. Contact the Special Collections division of the University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

This collection is organized into 5 series.

  • Series 1, Films
  • Series 2, Manuscripts and Photographs, circa 1960s-2000s
  • Series 3, Audio Recordings
  • Series 4, Photographs
  • Series 5, Video Recordings

Preservation Note

Records stored off-site; advance notice required for use.

Acquisition Information

Donor: Boojie Cowell, 2013.

Processing Note

Processed by Libby Hophauf, Andrew Weaver, Susan Fitch, 2014.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Series 1:  FilmsReturn to Top

This series is arranged by film and film series
  • Roving Report films about Dutch New Guinea
    • Back of Beyond
    • Land Beyond the Moon
  • Rebel film series
    • Raid into Tibet
    • The Unknown War
  • The Light of Asia film series
    • Buddhism in Tibet
    • Buddhism in Thailand
    • Buddhism in Japan
  • The Opium Trail
  • The Opium Warlords
  • The Masked Dance
  • Opium film series
    • The White Powder Opera
    • The Warlords
    • The Politicians
  • The Heroin Wars film series
    • The Opium Convoys
    • Smack City
    • The Kings of Opium
Description Dates
Dutch new Guinea films for Roving Report television series
Roving Reports, produced by Independent Television News (ITN) in Britain, was a weekly current affairs television series which focused on remote regions of the world from a British point of view. It was broadcast between 1957 and 1964.
1960-1961
Back of Beyond
Created for the Roving Reports series, this film ventures into remote jungle in Dutch New Guinea to examine the isolated Dani tribe, and the Dutch government's plan to educate the indigenous populations for Papuan independence.
Director, Adrian Cowell.
1960
Land Beyond the Moon
Created for the Roving Reports series, this film revisits Dutch New Guinea.Dutch New Guinea was a territory of the Kingdom of Netherlands from 1949 to 1962.
Director, Adrian Cowell.
1961
Rebel film series
This series of two films follows guerilla soldiers in Tibet and the Shan state of Burma.
1966
Raid into Tibet
In 1964, Adrian Cowell, cameraman Chris Menges, and British journalist George Patterson join a small detachment of nine exiled Tibetan guerrilla fighters in their secret camp in a remote area of Nepal. Patterson, who lived in Eastern Tibet before the Chinese invasion and was fluent in Tibet’s Khampa language, gained access to the area by bluffing the team’s way into the Nepal, claiming that they wanted to film scenes of Buddhist life. At great risk, the three-man film team accompanies the fighters as they move their base from Nepal over a 20,000 ft pass into Tibet and ambush an invading Chinese military truck convoy. This is the only known film of resistance efforts in Tibet from the remote Mustang area from 1960 to 1974. It was shown on British television in 1966, providing Western audiences’ first glimpse of the continuing violent resistance to Chinese occupation.
Author, journalist, and missionary George Patterson was born in Scotland, and first went to Tibet in 1947 as a medical missionary. He was one of the first people to report the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Patterson lived and traveled in Tibet, becoming fluent in the Tibetan Khampa language. He become known as “Patterson of Tibet” and the “bearded Khampa” for his support to the Tibetan resistance fighters.
Director, Adrian Cowell; Camera, Chris Menges ; Advisor, George Patterson.
Production Company, ATV Pathfinder.
1966
The Unknown War
The filmmakers live for five months with a band of guerillas from the Shan National Army to report on the unpublicized Shan rebellion. In 1962, the Burmese government assumed power and abolished the constitution and Shan rights. 12,000 Shan farmers-turned-fighters are fighting for Shan independence in several independent armies, each led by a separate rebel leader. The three million Shan peasant farmers and villagers support the rebellion through tax paid on their opium crops. But the armies need a strong leader to unify the armies and lead them in the revolution. The film follows one warlord, Sam Lo, as a possible candidate.
Producer and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges ; Sound Editor, Guy Ambler ; Editor, George Clark.
Production Company, ATV Pathfinder.
Participant: Sam Lo.
1966
The Light of Asia film series
The series explores how the three most significant streams of Buddhism affect everyday life for the average Asian, and how the doctrines are changing in the face of industrialization and Communism.
Director, Adrian Cowell; Camera, Chris Menges.
1966
Buddhism in Tibet
Explores Mahayana Bodhisattva Buddhism in the context of the 1959 revolt inside Tibet and among Tibetan refugees in northern Nepal. The film examines the problems caused by the Communist invasion and the violent strains appearing within Tibet Buddhism as it tries to adapt to a modern environment. Includes sequences of the Dalai Lama in exile and of Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu.
Director, Adrian Cowell; Camera, Chris Menges.
Participant: Dalai Lama XIV.
1966
Buddhism in Thailand
An examination of Theravada meditation in Thailand. The practice produces a passive mentality, suited to a peasant society. The problem for Buddhism in 1966 is how to change this to a practice that can commit itself to a struggle with Communism in the material urban life.
Director, Adrian Cowell; Camera, Chris Menges.
1966
Buddhism in Japan
An examination of Soka Gakkai Buddhism, which is organizing its 15 million adherents into a political machine sweeping to power in the elections of 1966 Japan. The Gakkai claim that faith can solve the economic and material issues of life. The film is shot in Tokyo during the successful election campaign of Soka Gakkai's Komeito party.
Director, Adrian Cowell; Camera, Chris Menges.
1966
The Opium Trail
Examines opium’s history and follows the narcotic's path beginning in the Shan regions in Burma, where cultivation of the opium poppy is fundamental to the peasant economy. Shan guerilla fighters protect the mule opium convoys, and collect tax on the opium to finance the Shan revolution against the Burmese dictatorship. The film follows preparation of the drug for smuggling through Thailand, and the processing of opium into heroin for sale on the streets of Hong Kong. Concludes with Hong Kong's history as a city based on opium.Filmed from 1964-1965, and first shown publicly in 1966.
Director, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges ; Sound Editor, Guy Ambler ; Film Editor, Brian Freeman.
1966
The Opium Warlords
An inside report on the Southeast Asian narcotics business. This film was shot during 18 months in the guerilla-held opium regions of the Shan state in Burma, where rival warlords fight for control of the opium trade. It continues the theme introduced in The Unknown War and The Opium Trail (both from 1966): the Shan guerilla war financed by opium. In addition, this film reveals the 1973 Shan proposal to sell the U.S. government 400 tons of opium a year and tells of Shan leader Lo Hsing Han's abduction and arrest by the Thai Government . It describes the suppression of the proposal by the Bureau's head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Bangkok, his later dismissal, and the divisions within the U.S. government in reacting to the proposal. Exposes flaws in the structure of international narcotics law and treaties.Winner of 1979 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) for Television/Documentary.
Director, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges.
1974
The Masked Dance
Follows Kukrit Pramoj, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Thailand of the post-military period, in his first year of office.
Director, Adrian Cowell.
Participant: Kukrit Pramoj, M.R.
1976
Opium film series
1978
Part 1:The White Powder Opera
Hong Kong is home to the world's largest addiction problem in the world [by 1977], and this film looks at the heroin business in Hong Kong from two sides; a dealer gang on the street, and Hong Kong's Narcotics Bureau. Both sides cooperate fully to allow secret filming of their operations. The film also looks at the role of the big drug rings. The Triad gang talks about their situation. The senior police officials analyze intelligence, discuss their strategies, and conclude that's there's no solution to the drug problem, just changing trends – the drug trade evolves and can't be stopped.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges ; Assistant Camera, Sam Hul ; Additional Filming, Alex So, Jo Yue ; Sound, Jerry Yau, Peter Rann ; Production Assistant, Liz Griffin ; Associate Producers, Peter Yung, Satharn Pairaoh ; Film Editor, Roger James ; Editing Assistant, Paul Cleary.
1978
Part 2: The Warlords
Revisits the Shan state in Burma, where one-third of the world's narcotics are produced. The Shan State Army vies with the Burmese Home Guard army and the Chinese KMT opium army for control of the opium trade, attacking and defending mule opium convoys. The film follows in some detail the distrust, betrayals, changes of alliance and assassinations between the various armies. Lo Hsing Han (also known as Law Sit Han), a warlord dubbed the "King of Opium" by the U.S. Narcotics Bureau, rises to power and talks openly to the camera about his opium business. In 1974 the Shan army sends a proposal to the U.S. to sell a large quantity of opium, hoping to reduce the fighting with a political solution. Lo Hsing Han has the power to resolve the opium anarchy in the Shan state, and is arrested by Thai police, who have a vested interest in the opium trade, and extradited to Burma.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera and Co-Producer, Chris Menges ; Sound, Joseph Raschid, Mike Billing ; Research, Lucy Harrington ; Editor, Barrie Vince ; Assistant Editor, Bob Leighton.
Participant: Lo Hsing Han (also known as Law Sit Han).
1978
Part 3:The Politicians
In the United States, President Carter and top government officials react to the controversial Shan proposal that the U.S. buy the entire opium output of the Shan State from warlord Khun Sa. The Congressional Select Committee on Narcotics and the White House Office of Drug Abuse Policy (which includes the DEA, the National Institute of Drug Abuse ,and the State department) disagree about what must be done to eliminate opium production in Shan state. Congressman Lester Wolff holds hearings on the proposal and provides unusual access to the camera crew. Includes footage of President Carter and the July 1977 hearings debating United States' international drug policy.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges ; Camera Assistant, Jimmy Dibling ; Additional Filming, Ivan Strasburg, John Gordon, Kip Durrin ; Sound, David John, Tony Bell, Mike Billing ; Film Editor, Jonathan Morris ; Assistant Film Editor, Roger Miller ; Production Assistant, Julie Stoner.
Co-produced with the Institute for the Study of Human Issues ; Associate Producer, Allison Freeman ; Co-producer, David Feingold.
Participants: Peter Bourne, Jimmy Carter, Joe Nellis, Kuhn Sa, Lester L. Wolff.
1978
The Heroin Wars film series
Three 52 minute video programs. Filmed between 1964-92; released 1996 (re-edited & new material); in 1997 shown as "The Opium Kings" (re-edited + new footage ph by Ned Johnston, a.o.) in the WGBH-tv series Frontline.
1996
Part 1: The Opium Convoys
Picks up the story in the 1960s when the Burmese Army seized power in a coup and abolished Burma's democratic constitution and Parliament. The Shan farmers’ war of independence against the dictatorship is financed with their only source of ready money, opium. The film follows Shan guerilla armies as they fight for control of the huge mule convoys which export the opium to the outside world. It also shows the United States attacking the convoys in the 1970s. Lo Hsing Han, "King of Opium," proposes the sale of opium to the U.S. to end the opium trade, but his proposal is suppressed and the U.S. cooperates with Thai police to arrest him, under the pretext of agreeing to negotiate his proposal. Lo Hsing's warlord successor, Khun Sa, sends a new proposal, which is debated by Carter Administration drug policy officials and rejected. Instead, the U.S. decides to give money and airplanes to Burma, a policy which fails to intercept any opium in its ten-year campaign. The Burmese junta's 1988 massacre of thousands of pro-democracy protestors sparks world outrage. Wolff, Nellis and Borne are interviewed in the 1990s about the US drug policy's lack of success. Khun Sa celebrates his 60th birthday and is indicted and threatened with kidnaping by the United States.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges ; Additional Photography, Ned Johnston, John Gordon, Ken Morse, Ivan Strasburg ; Sound, David John ; Dubbing Mixer, Tony Anscombe ; Puppets, The Puppet Factory ; Editors, Terry Twigg, Brian Freemantle, Jonathan Morris, Barry Vince ; On-line Editor, Luis Gutierrez ; Assistant, Luke Menges; Production Assistant, Tracy Whitehouse ; Producer in Thailand, Satharn Pairaoh ; Executive Producer, Roger James.
Produced in Association with WGBH/Frontline. Production Assistant, Marina Kalb ; Researcher, Joe Rosenbloom ; Producer, Michael Kirk ; Executive Producer, David Fanning ;
Participants: Peter Bourne, Khun Sa, Lo Hsing Han (also known as Law Sit Han), Joe Nelllis, Lester L. Wolff.
1996
Part 2: Smack City
An in-depth look at the war on drugs in Hong Kong over twenty years, examining the heroin economy and drug war from the viewpoints of consumer, pusher and law enforcement. The film team follows the Triad street drug gang filmed in 1978’s The White Powder Opera, and analyzes the Hong Kong police's apparently futile war against the drug trade. Enforcement efforts and the market economy created an escalation from opium to the heroin, which is more harmful and addictive, and easier to smuggle. Hong Kong's addiction rates have stabilized since the 1960s, but the rest of the world's addiction rates have soared, and the war on drugs continues to evolve.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Chris Menges, Ned Johnston, George L.Y. Chang ; Additional Photography, Alex So, Jo Yue ; Sound, Jerry Yau, Chin Ting Cheung ; Dubbing Mixer, Tony Anscombe ; Editors, Terry Twigg, Brian Freemantle, Roger James ; Assistant, Luke Menges ; On-Line Facilities, Carlton Post Production ; On-Line Luis Gutierrrez ; Consultant, Peter Yung ; Production Accountant Andy Ritchie ; Production Assistant, Tracy Whitehouse ; Executive Producer, Roger James.
Distributor, Bullfrog Films ; Carlton UK Productions for Channel Four.
1996
Part 3: The Kings of Opium
The final film in the Heroin Wars series examines the progression over 30 years of the intertwined drug war and Shans’ war of independence in Burma. By 1993, the villagers grow 2-5 times more opium than in the 1970s. The civil war has escalated. The Burmese armies' brutalities lead to international outcry and a conflict between US Human Rights and drug policies. Shan armies are recruiting and training large numbers of soldiers. Warlord Kuhn Sa, the second "King of Opium," is interviewed, declaring his dedication to Shan independence. In a 1994 interview, Carter aide Peter Bourne reevaluates the 1974_ White House response to the Shan proposals to hand over its opium and end the trade. Meanwhile Lo Hsing Han, the first "King of Opium," regains power over the narcotics trade, leading to Khun Sa's 1995 surrender and abandoning the cause of Shan independence to protect his narcotics business. By 1996, both men are wealthy and powerful, and the amount of opium produced in Shan State has increased ten times. Despite massive U.S. aid to Burmese for drug enforcement, less than 1% of the narcotics in Burma have been intercepted.
Director and Commentary, Adrian Cowell ; Camera, Ned Johnston ; Additional Photography, Pee Chalawltug, Richard Chisolm, Greg Kelly, Kublaihun, Ken Morse, Joe Vitaliango, Peter Yung, UNTV, Geneva ; Sound, Tony Anscome, Mario Gardenas, Jeff Kenton, Surapol Ngamkhun, Robert Silverthorne ; Cartoons, Rong Prapasanobon ; Puppets, The Puppet Factory ; Editor, Terry Twigg ; Assistant Editor, Luke Menges ; On-line Editor, Luis Gutierrez ; On-line Facilities, Carlton Post Production ; Production Assistant, Tracy Whitehouse ; Producer in Thailand, Satharn Pairaoh ; Executive Producer, Roger James.
Produced in Association with WGBH/Frontline. Production Assistant, Marina Kalb ; Researcher, Joe Rosenbloom ; Producer, Michael Kirk ; Executive Producer, David Hanning ; Distributor, Bullfrog Films ; Carlton UK Productions for Channel Four.
Participants: Peter Bourne, Kuhn Sa, Lo Hsing Han (also known as Law Sit Han).
1996

Series 2:  Manuscripts and Photographs, circa 1960s-1990sReturn to Top

29.64 cubic feet (26 boxes)

Newspaper clippings, photographs, slides, log books, transcripts, and handwritten notes relating to the research and production of Cowell's various film projects.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1
Shan Info since KS Surrender
1996
1
Shan Visit UK
1995
1
Shan US Visit
1992-1993
1
Bill Young - WA - Benjamin
1
MTA Massacres
1
Shan Documents
1994-1996
1
Shan Correspondence
1994-1996
1
Sai Myo Win
1
MTA Docs
1993
1
U Tin Latt
1
Shan Proposals & Application UN
1
Documents Other Burmese Groups
1
US Reviews Opium
1
General Articles - Opium
1
Opium Reviews UK
1
Opium Trail
1
Reviews Opium Warlords
1
My Articles Re: Shans Opium
1
Press Cuttings - Opium and General
1
Notes and Papers Washington Interviews
1
Thailand/SE Asia Research General
1
Shan Transcripts - Extra
1
My Notes on Shan Visits 1991 - 1996
1991-1996
1
Shan Transcripts Work Copy - 2
1
Shan Transcripts - Work Copies -1
1
Attach on Tachilek
1
Statements by Christine Kelly 10.04.95
1995
1
New Light of Myanmar on Drugs Burn and Joint US Poppy Survey
1
David Feingold Article on Akha
1
David Feingold
1
U.S. Govt
1
Shan Narcotics 1998 Onwards
1998
1
Kun Sa 1992 Onwards
1992
1
GOA Report on US. Drugs Policy
1
Press Cuts from Drugs Policy Foundation
1
Senate Hearing Lee Brown's Strategy Oct 93
1993
1
Hearings on Burma
1
Burma Cuttings Reports
1
Senate Reports
2
Satellite Photography Shan State
2
Karen Parker
2
Thailand
2
Karen
2
Sierra Cluiz
2
US Policy on Burma
2
Burmese Attack - Dec 93 - Minority Negotiations - Jan 94
1993-1994
2
Notes on Drugs Policy & Legalization
2
Kukrit's Obituary
2
Cuttings - Re China
2
Drugs Legalization
2
Clinton Narcotics Policy
2
Burmese Oil & Dams - Green November 32
2
Burmese Ceasefire Negotiations Minorities
2
Nobel Visit to Thailand
2
Thai Politics
2
China General
2
Kings of Opium Documents
2
Afghan Narcotics
2
Shan State
2
Khun Sa 1995 Onwards
1995
2
060 Narcotics Burma / Shan
2
Expenses Accounts of Floats
1991
2
Journalists who've written about Khun Shan
2
Kings - Memos for Floats
2
Heroin Wars Awards
2
Channel 4 Press Office
2
Heroin Wars
2
Silver Jubilee Article for Burma Debate
2
Frontline Interviews with Adrian
2
Robin Cook's War on Drugs
2
Channel 4 - Six Page Description of Series
2
Channel 4 - One Page Press Release
2
Press Selections Heroin Wars
2
Heroin Wars - Previews / Reviews
2
Synopsis - Silver Jubilee
2
Correspondence Re. Stills
2
Billings
2
3 Page Synopsis
2
Heroin Wars Cassettes
2
Heroin Wars - Viewers' Letters
2
Heroin Wars - Press
2
Surrender Cuttings
2
Conclusion Series
2
Video Edit Texted Versions
2
Masters for Video Edit
2
Transmission Reg. Requirements
2
Lifting for CFS - Jan 1996
2
Release Material to CTE
2
Stills Sent Out
2
Final Material - Needed Changes
2
Notes on Viewing Copies
2
Music - Kings of Opium
2
Notes on what Ned is doing in Video Edit
2
Discuss - Channel 4
2
Captions for Stills
2
Facilities info
2
Captions Subtitles
2
Delivery to C4/CTE
2
Herioin Wars- Channel Four Music, Library, Stills
2
C4, CTE, WBGH Delivery Requirements
2
CTE 1995
1995
2
Channel 4 Print Out of Subtitles
2
Nomad Editing Bills to Central 1993
1993
3
Hi 8 Equipment 2/96
1996
3
Central Parting Shots
3
New Equipment Sound 1992
1992
3
Information pack
3
Equipment in Thailand
3
Final Account Equipment
3
Film and Cine Equipment Catalog UBS
3
New Equipment 1981 Camera
3
Mel Worsfeld Edit Equip
3
Hi 8 Camcorder Equipment
3
Solar Chargers
1994
3
Thailand-USA
3
Returning Equipment to UK 2/96
1996
3
Expenses for "The Heroin Wars"
3
Central Expanses from Sep 1 1992-1/1/94
1992-1994
3
Central Insurance 1995
1995
3
Peter Edwards Quotes v. Central Insurance
3
Central Expenses 1994-
1994
3
The Heroin Wars-Channel 4 Release Documents
3
Final Equipment Preparation
3
SSO Documents
3
Khun Kyah Oo
3
Shan US
3
Shan Hospital - Jonathan - Merlin
3
Burmese Relief
3
Sai Khun Hpa
3
BBC Report Burma
3
Shans 1979 - 1990
1979-1990
3
Ed McGovern/Prospect Burma/Asia Watch
3
Martin Smith/Article 19
3
Ed McGovern
3
OGD
3
European Drug Research
3
Burma Centrum Nederlands
3
Documents for Anti-Prohibition League & ANA
3
Sao Tsang
4
Angelo Saladino
4
Opium Crop Replacement Research
4
Orgs and People Interested in Shans
4
Peter Bournel
4
NWF
4
Jim Coyne
4
Lester Wolff
4
UNOP Research
4
UN Narcotics Control
4
UN PO
4
Bertil Lintner
4
Correspondence S.H.R.F. 1992
1992
4
Shan Correspondence 1995
1995
4
Shan Visit US 1995
1995
4
Correspondence Shans 1992-Rec 31 1993
1992-1993
4
MTA - Shan Documents - Feb. 1993
1993
4
Shan's December 1993 > Declare Independence
4
MTA Ceasefire - Cuttings
4
Joe Nellis
4
US Claims Communist China Exported Opium 1950s - 1960s
4
Opium - US Research
4
Conservation International
4
State Department Report on Opium Eradication
5
Politics of Opium
5
Iran
5
Correspondence
1976-1977
5
Lucy's Research 1st Draft
5
Opium War
5
The Narcotic Solution 7
5
Lucy Research Letters
5
World Heroin Traffic
5
I.T.N
5
General Material on Drugs
5
Interviews in Depth
5
Pharmakon Heroin Clinics
5
H.K Narcotics Cuttings
5
The Opium Business: The Walled City
5
The Opium Business: The Narcotic Solution
5
V and A Museum Pix
5
Pictures for the Opium War
5
Research: World Opium Survey
5
Captured Opium-Heroin
5
New York Times Research Report
5
New York Times Research Report
5
CIA and Gaom-KMT
5
Research Report- The Opium Warlords
5
New York Times Research Report
5
Thailand Crop Substitution-Socio Economic Needs etc.
5
Future Research Opium
5
Jim Thompson
5
China Drug Trade
5
Cuttings Re- Congressional Hearing
5
Burma
5
Pharmakon Heroin Clinic
5
Burmese Rebel United Front 1975
5
Kriang Saks Speech
5
HK. MA Arrest 1977-Police Corruption
1977
5
Correspondence Relating to Libraries As of July 1975
Jul-75
5
Research Report- Misc.-The Opium Warlords
5
Time Mag, Newsweek, Research Report-The Opium Warlords
5
Politics in Shan State
6
Newspaper Cuttings from Thai Papers
6
Burma Magazine - The Guardian
6
US Opium Reviews
6
Newspaper Cuttings from Thai Papers
6
Misc Correspondence 1978 - inc treatment / poss feature film with Mel Gordy?
6
Misc Corresondence 1972 -
6
Opium Statistics
6
Correspondence with Kachin
6
Shans - Opium Trail Reviews and Publicity
6
Early Drafts of Feature Treatment (see 005)
6
Maps: China, Mandaly, Burma, etc
6
Correspondence UK to US in Shan State
6
Correspondence SSA
1973-1977
6
General Narcotics Cuttings
1977-1987
6
Correspondence with Lester Wolff
6
General Shan File
6
SSA Documents
6
Opium Notes
6
Book Index Notes
6
Various Articles
6
Mark Halliley's Version Prog 1
6
Opium Reviews UK
6
All Budgets Worked Thru with Ailish
6
Thailand Contacts
6
Channel 4 "Kings"
6
Copies Releases
6
Central Nomad Contract Vacations1994
1994
6
Coproduction and WGBH 1992
1992
7
Satharn
7
Hong Kong Trancripts
7
Final Cut Hong Kong
7
Hong Kong Trancripts- Marked Copy
7
Master Library Video Tapes fo H.K - Viewing Notes
7
Thai Cuttings
7
Press Cuttings General
7
The Long March
7
Nagaland
7
Film Stock Shot Requisitions
7
Asian Series- Tape Shot List and Notebooks
7
Correspondence Re Master BBC Negatives
7
Missing Film
7
Script for Light of Asia
7
Asian Series ITC Accounts
7
Filmatics Correspondence to 1991
1991
7
Asian Series - General Series' Forms e.g. Inserts
7
Opium Correspondence Re. Release Print etc
7
Office of the White house and Drug Abuse Policy
7
ISHI Non-theatric Bills
7
Washington Final Sub-Titles
7
Papers for Filming - Drugs Related
7
Politicians Commentary
7
Opium Series Print and Cassette Movement, and Music and Effects List
7
Warlords Subtitles for ISHI
7
Washington Shooting - General 1977
1977
7
Original Synopsis for 6 part Opium Series and Preliminary Budget
7
Various Papers / Correspondence Re. Opium Series
7
The Politicians - Congressional Documents
7
2nd Shan Proposal and Notes
7
SSA Proposals
7
SSA Report
7
Schwab's Report
7
Kun Siri Assassinated
7
Opium Research Project
7
Statements at Congressional Hearings
7
UN Regulations re Poppy Growth in Iran
7
Student Uprising
7
Presscuttings - Early KMT
7
Shans General
7
Burmese Government Action
7
Proposals List
7
Disband Gra Kwa Ye
7
Cuttings
7
Minolta 16mm Frames
7
Georja's Captions / Instructions
7
Narcotics Bureau Publicity on Lo Hsin Han
8
Jimmy Yang
8
House of Representatives Hearings
8
Various US Govt Committee Reports
8
UK & UN Reports Opium
8
Shan Drug Proposals - sale of poppy
8
Opium Blurb
8
Shan Charts: Convoys, SSA Opium Tax, data etc
8
Opium Articles - Misc
8
Shan Correspondence
circa 1977
8
My Reports and Notes
1976-1977
8
Shan State Army Documents in English
1968-1975
8
Opium Documents from Thai Govt
8
Opium US Notes and Documents
8
Transcripts Khun Sa Meeting with Joe Nellis
1977
8
Adrian's Book
8
Synopses of proposed set of films on themes
1964
8
Notes/Thoughts on Tibet Trip
8
Subtitles for White Powder Opera
8
Hong Kong Sound Sheets
8
Hong Kong Unit Expenses
8
Proposals for Asian Series: ISHI Grant Applications
8
Hong Kong Transcripts - Parts 1-4
8
Notes on Hong Kong Narcotics
8
Working Notebook on Hong Kong
8
Operator File
8
Expenses Related to ISHI - Re Asian Art/Opium Business
8
General Research on Hong Kong
8
Hong Kong Assembly Order
8
Early Hong Kong Dialogue Notes
8
Commentary - The White Powder Opera
9
Filming Instructions for Graphics
9
Early Asian Series - with ISHI
9
Royal Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau Bulletin
9
Peter Yung Master Recordings - Translation Tapes
9
Hong Kong - Other Cameramen
9
Hong Kong Titles and Subtitles
9
Unwanted Hong Kong Script Notes
9
For Scriptwriter - Opium War
9
Research Materials - mainly UN Reports etc
9
Opium Series - General Research
9
Opium Vintage
9
Indian - Opium Business, Documentary Series
9
Le Dain Commission
9
Federal Drug Abuse Programs
9
Gold
9
Opium Series - Folder A
9
Research Report for Sharyn
9
Opium Series - Folder B
9
Opium Research - Village Thailand
9
List of References
9
Politics of Opium - Chinese Solution
9
Heroin Research Report - Lucy Harrington & Jenny Shanks
9
Mansell Collection, Pictures for Opium War
9
Research Report Rough Draft
9
Notes and Correspondence on Politics of Opium
9
Turkey
9
Heroin - Rresearch Report
9
Broken - Japanese Shotlists - The Soka Gokkai
9
Buddhism - Thai Shotlists - Broken
9
Opium Trail Shot Lists - Broken
9
Asian Series - inc. Shan States 1964 - Mute Negative Report
9
Location Shot Lists (prob. Thai Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shan Film/Unknown War) & Ways Bills & Picture Negative Report
9
Opium Trail - inc. Shot Lists, Tape Lifting List, Commentary, M&E Chart & Notes
9
Indian Buddhism Shot List (not made unless incorporated elsewhere)
9
Kings' Copyright Clearance
9
Warlords Washington Subtitles & Overlaps - Material Needed from Masters/Offcuts
10
Notes on Asia Watch Shoot - Thai & Burmese Tapes re K. S. Resignation
10
Correspondence - New Guinea
10
Letters from George Patterson re Drug Trade in Asia
10
Papua New Guinea - Cargo Cult
10
Papua New Guinea - Research
10
Packet of Maps (inc. Hanoi, Assam, Burma etc)
10
Heroin Wars Viewing Notes
10
Notes on Viewing Hi-8 Material
1993, 1995
10
Cutting Notes - Kings - For Dropped Seqs
10
Thai Shoot
Oct-95
10
Puppet Shoot & Merry Go Round
10
Library Material Lifted onto Film/Video (Kings?)
10
Notes for Telecine Transfer (Kings?)
10
Viewing Notes on Umatics of Opium Masters
10
Notes Thailand Cutting Order Part 1
Jan-94
10
Kings of Opium-Earlier Version
10
"White Powder City" Cutting Order
10
"Kings of Opium" Project - Notes
10
"Kings of Opium" - Treatment 5
10
Themes in the Series (Kings)
10
Budget: "Kings of Opium" - for WGBH/Central
10
Update on "Kings of Opium" Project
10
(Proposal) "The Opium Business": A series of 1 hour documentaries by Adrian Cowell -
10
"The Opium Business" - Detailed Synopsis of each proposed film
10
"The White Powder Opera" - 3 Copies of the Transmission Script
10
"The Warlords" - 2 Copies of the Transmission Script
10
"The Politicians" - 3 Copies of the Transmission Script
10
"The Opium Warlords" - 3 Copies of Adrian's Commentary
10
"The Opium Trail" - 3 x Commentary
10
"The Kings of Opium" - Project Outline?
10
Shan Rebels on a Cold-War Frontier - Article by Adrian Cowell
10
Welbeck Asian Series (Opium) - Sequence List (Edge Numbers) - Stills List - Records/Music List
10
Welbeck Asian Series (Opium) - ¼" Tape Shot (Sound) List
10
List of Masters for: Opium Warlords 74min version, Opium: The Polilticians, The Opium Trail & The Unknown War
10
Opium Warlords - Draft Cutting Order: Part 1
10
Welbeck Asian Series (Opium) - Misc. Paperwork
10
Welbeck Asian Series (Opium) - Sound Transfer Reports - for Additional Tracks
10
"Opium Warlords" - Shotlist of Edited Film
10
"Warlords" Recut
10
Subtitles - "Warlords"
10
Hong Kong Production Notes Outline - Heroin Series - "Smack City"
11
"Thailand" Cutting Order - Prog. 2
11
"Thailand" Cutting Order - Prog. 1
11
"Kings of Opium" - Prog. 3 - Cutting Order - Heroin Series
11
The Heroin Wars Series - Prog. 2 - "Smack City"
11
Unwanted Notes - Thai Expenses - Pamphlets
11
"Opium" Proposal for Life
11
Withdraw US Aid - Burn Opium: Newspaper Artlcles
11
Letter from Prince HsoKhan Pha
11
New Guinea Production Notes
11
Misc. Correspondence
1963-1966
11
Light of Asia
11
New Guinea - Shotlists
11
The Heroin Wars - E.D.L Discs and Print Outs
11
Thailand Prog 2 Cutting Notes
11
Kings of Opium Prog. 1 and 2
11
General Correspondence
1995-1996
11
Thailand Purchase Orders
1992-1995
11
Article and Paper for T.N.I
11
Welbeck Asian Series Dubbine Cue Sheets and Loop List
11
Title Cards
11
AS - A.T.V Orders
11
Opium - Transmission Script Originals
11
AS Laboratory Reports
11
Filmatic Bills
11
Promotions - Trailer
11
Original Cutting Center - Written immongmai Notes
11
Old Shooting Script
11
Sound FX
11
Chart & Titles
11
Delivery Notes
11
Library Footage - Opium Trail
11
Music
11
Warlords Titles & Backgrounds - Extracted from Files
11
Welbeck Asian Series Original Optical Specifications
11
Amendments to Film
11
Synfuels
11
National Conservation Plan for Thailand
1980-1984
12
Survival International
12
Blurb related Earthwatch
12
WWF China Project
12
Politics of Survival
12
Nuclear Risk
12
Acid Rain
12
Energy Bill
12
Proposals - USTB and WHYY
12
Wind Up Opium Accounts
12
Kukrit Transcripts
12
Masked Dance Shotlists
12
Election Cuttings, Cartoons
12
Rejects Photos
12
Reject Cuttings
12
General on S.E. Asia Diplomacy
12
Election Pictures
12
Cutting Cambodian Border
12
Rejects Photos
12
Reject Cartoons
12
Satharn-Kukrit Film and HK
1976
12
Masked Dance Production
12
A.T.V- Kukrit Film
12
Kukrit Research
12
Thailand Correspondence.
12
Kukrit Articles, Speeches, Interviews
12
Non-Kukrit Transcripts and Translations
12
Old Script Notes
12
Kukrit Commentary and V.O.
13
4th Copy Transcripts
13
Unwanted Current Election Cuttings
13
Crews and Equipment HongKong
13
Kukrit Unwanted Library Footage
13
PM in Action, English Headlines, Thai Photos
13
Masked Dance Unwanted Cartoons
13
Rostrum Work Masked Dance
13
1975 US Congress Testimony
13
Col. Pramaul Arrested
13
Other Burmese Rebels
13
Pictures Needed in Thailand
13
Narcotics Cuttings in 1971-1972 UK US
1971-1972
13
Whisky
13
Improving Thai Burmese Relations
13
Report on Pix by Satharn
13
Fuji
13
Baby Elephants
13
Sikkim Research
13
Asian Stories
13
Sir Robert Thompson
13
Correspondence Phairmon to Cowell
13
Correspondence Phairmon to Cowell, picture
13
Incoming Correspondence A-Z
1966-1973
13
Incoming Correspondence A-J
1974-1976
13
Incoming Correspondence K-Z
13
Philip Barker
13
Opium Trail Cuttings/ Brochure, Negs.
13
Opium Crop Substitution
13
Lo Hsin Han Opium Captured
13
New Guinea News Sheets
13
Stills
14
Satharn - Telex
14
1996 My Burma Article re Opium
14
"Dummy" Prod no. 3649
14
General Summary Accounts Thailand
14
Letters to Adrian
14
Early U.S. Negotiations Opium
14
Invoices - Sales of Stock and Camera Equipment
14
Satharn - Letters
14
Correspondence By ATV Vam
14
Society of Stephen
14
London Expenses-Opium Business and Sales Trip
14
Accounts to Cliff Baty
14
Peter yung
14
Copies HK and Thailand Accounts
14
Cutting Order Shan Opium Film
14
ATV Re Hong Kong Film
14
Opium Warlords - Notes on General Accounts
14
Cowell PN 4004
14
Nov 75- April 1976 Opium Cuttings
1975-1976
14
Loster Doff and Anderson
14
Co Hsin Han Trial
14
Thai Cuttings Wanted
14
CIA Narcotics Agents
14
Law Hsin Han Under Guard
14
Wolfe Cuttings
14
Cuttings 1975 US Policy Re Narcotic Burma
14
Shan CIA
14
General Cuttings From Burmese Papers
14
ISHI
14
Transworld
14
Hong Kong Project: Prod. No 3721 A. Cowell/ C. Menges
14
Incoming Correspondence A-Z, 1976-1979
1976-1979
14
Notes June '76
1976
14
Diary Notes Thailand Jan.-Feb. 1975
1975
14
Info 1976 Oct.-Nov. 1976
1976
14
Notes from first Shan Trip
14
Drugs Policy
14
Drugs Columbia/Brazil
14
ISHI Paper
14
Shan Notes
15
Daylight
15
4 Chapters
15
Paper for ISHI
15
Ch. 2 Notes
15
Ch. 1 Notes
15
King of Opium - Treatment
15
Opium Afghanistan
15
Gujo
1977
15
Ledo Road
15
Notes 1st Shan Trip
15
Kings Feature -Sequence List
15
Distribution - Kings of Opium Treatment
15
Comments of Opium Treatment 2
15
Shan Drugs
2001-2002
15
Shans
1999
15
GTZITNI
15
UN Drugs Burma- Arliacchi
15
Afghanistan
15
Salween Dam
15
Shan Film Ideas
15
Photocopies of sheets taken in Brazil
15
Lo Hsin Han
15
Law Hsit Han 2001
2001
15
TNI Conference Amsterdam
15
Shan Dam
15
Notes for Book
15
Kings of Opium (movie) - Files for Treatment 4
15
Show Business
15
Ch. 4 Notes
15
Ch. 3 Notes
15
ISHI Paper Completed Appendices
15
Shan Report
1972-73,1996,1964-1965
15
Draft 5 Chapters
15
Shan Maps on Journey
15
Washington Transcripts
15
Washington Hearing Transcripts (1-2 of 3)
16
Washington Hearing Transcripts (3 of 3)
16
Research for Cuttings for Film
16
Photo of LAM and NT CASE
16
Hong Kong
16
Hong Kong Transcripts
16
P.A's File
16
Washington Hearings
16
Inserts for Filming - Washington
16
Correspondence with ATV from Thailand
1972-1973
16
Internal Memo's ATV
1971
16
Contacts in Thailand
16
Kings of Opium Treatment 2 - Nov 1991 - First copies - Narrow Margins
1991
16
Paper; The Chinese Opium Narcotics Offensive
16
Correspondence with Satharn
1974
16
Opium Review and Picture Captions
16
Press Cuts on Attack on Khun Sa
16
Notes on other Films - Khun Sa / Andrew Dumend, MTA Cassettes, Bo Gritz
16
Notes on How to Video Edit at Sunrise
16
Heroin - Diagrams and Maps
16
Reviews of Opium
16
Puppet Factory / Merry-go-round
16
Thailand Release forms
16
Final Video Lifting - Programme Two
16
Info Re. Ten Shan's Arrested
16
Adrian's Notes on Meetings / Research - China
16
Hazard Assessment Forms
16
Spitting Image
16
Rong Prapasanovong - Merry-go-round Cartoons
16
Ken Morse - Rostrum Instructions
16
INT, Reuters and AP Library Material
16
NHK Library Sequence - Shooting Demo
16
NHK and other Video Material for Kings
16
Library Material - Old British TV Programmes on Drugs
16
Soho Images - Technical Film Processing for Film Series
16
Modifications for Kings - Programme 2
16
Columbian Police Footage
16
Oasis Video Edit - Opium Trail Part 2
17
VidFilms Europe - Technical Problems
17
UN - TV Geneva
17
Correspondence Re. Transfer of Opium Master Negs
17
Film Storage ? Asia/Brazil
17
"Thailand" Dubbing Charts
17
Thailand Despatch Notes/Report Sheets (1-3)
17
Thailand PN: 137800 (Heroin Wars) Gen. Corr.
1992-1994
17
Thailand PN: 137800 Research, Archive, Travel, Equipment, Music, Filming, Press
1992-1995
17
Welbeck Asian Series Sound Tape Shot List
17
Opium Series?
17
Hong Kong Log
17
Thailand Series Shotlists
17
Heroin /Opium - Transcripts
17
Heroin Wars - Prog 1 The Opium Convoys
17
Hong Kong Neg Reports and Log
17
Location Shotlists-Hong Kong - Heroin Wars
17
Kings of Opium Notes on Discs
17
Thailand - Wild Track - Kings of Opium Cutting Order
18
Washington Transcripts - Cean Copy
1995
18
Heroin Wars
1995
18
Wasington Shotlists - Poss. Opium Series
18
Early Shotlists Hong Kong
18
Ruined Rushes
18
Kings Programme 1 Commentary-new
1996
18
Hong Kong Commentary
1996
18
Uncorrected Hong Kong Shotlists for Chris
18
Hong Kong Shot Lists
18
1 Photcopy Shan Notes
18
Warlord Library Material
18
North Thailand Project
18
Synopsis or Draft on Film, Publicity Presentation - Opium Warlords
18
ATV From Shan State
18
Satharn Pairoah
1971-1972
18
Satharn From Shan State
18
Manby Project
18
Jenn Swe
18
Satharn Phairoah Correspondence
1976
18
Selected Correspondence (Valuable)
18
Ahun Sihngs Jade
18
Satharn Phairoah 1973 - Correspondence from London
1973
18
Final Cut Order Prog 2
18
Notes on Thailand, Hong Kong 2 - Rushes - Congress Visits Khun Sa
18
Cutting Order Hong Kong
1995
18
Copyright Clearances
18
Asia Films Tech Processing Issues
18
Movement Master Negs- Archive Videos, Film Dispatch 1990s
Circa 1990-1999
18
Sound Transfer Notes
Circa 1990-1999
18
Opium Masters - Movement
18
Lab and Sound Transfer Prices
18
Master Off Cut and Additional Material
18
WGBH
1995-1996
19
Chartered Bank Hong Kong
19
Picture Negative Report
19
Sequence Lists H.K.
19
H.K Viewing Rushes Notes
19
1994 Cutting Order Hong Kong
1994
19
Notes Cutting Order Part 2
1994
19
Notes for Sound Dub
19
Sound Lifting
19
Notes for Film Edit - Prog 1 - Final Materials
19
Grading File - Final Release
19
H.K. Cutting Order Notes
19
Master Library Video Tapes for Kings - Viewing Notes
19
Filmed Stills
19
Final Editing Notes Prog 3
19
Opium Master Material
19
ITL Release Opium
19
Call Sheets Opium - Washington 2
19
Burma Issues
19
Foreign Publications on Burma
19
Books on Shans
19
004 Papers on Minority Problems
19
The Opium Question
1931-1936
19
Shan visit to London
1992
19
Tape Lists and Sound Charts
19
UN Human Rights Report & Resolutions
19
Historical Papers on Burma
19
United Nations International Drug Control Programme
19
UN Drug Control Prog.
19
World Conference on Human Rights
19
UN Human Rights Commission Documents
19
Drugs Policy Foundation
19
Location Shot Lists - Way Bills
19
Opium Trail - Incl. Shotlist
19
Open Society Institute
19
Amnesty & Asia Watch Reports
19
WA. - Meanest Warriors in the Poppy Fields
19
US Drugs Research
19
Shan Narcotics
1999
19
GAO Reports
20
Articles / Documents sent by Ethan Nadelohn
20
Articles on Burma Drugs
20
Drugs, Policy Foundation Newsletter
20
Burmese Minorities Fight Back
20
Opium Agriculture
20
KMT
20
Burma Army Government
20
Cuttings: Satharns Mae Salong Trip
20
Khunsa Resignation/Surrender
20
Laos
20
Gun Running
20
Narong-Prapass
20
KMT & P.A.
20
Khum Sa Indictment
20
Correspondence with I.S.H.I.
20
Press Cuttings: Burma-Shan States
20
Thai Students Union
20
Shan Opium Trade Research Project
20
Draft: Final Budget Bob's Copy
20
Equipment to be sold
20
Lahu
20
Communists
20
Pantel from Thailand
20
Shan HK and Thailand ATV
20
Love Records
20
Burmeister
20
Viewers Correspondence "Opium Warlords"
20
Bangkok Chartered Bank
20
Alan Lomay
20
Stills Invoices
20
Equipment Invoices (Bought outside Thailand)
20
ATU General
1976
20
Welbeck Asian Series Equipment Register
21
Wellbeck Asian Series--Opium Warlords; Files from Cutting Room No. 3, Rack 3, Shelf 5
21
Tape Shotlists
21
Phonodiscs (18 discs)
21
Commentary for "The Light of Asia" - Japanese/ Thai/ Tibetan Buddhism
21
"Hong Kong 3" Sound Sheets, Cam. Sheets, etc.
21
"Hong Kong" Sequence Lists
21
Southeast Asian Maps
22
"The Drug Traffic " by Sean O'Callaghan, Uncorrected Book Proof
22
"Narcotic Photograph Document" photographed by Kazuo Kenmochi
22
Maps
22
Opium Warlords - English and Foreign Dialogue
22
Transcript Interviews
22
Washington Scripts
22
Commentary - 1st Dubbed Version
22
Scripts Short Version Opium Warlords
22
Opium Scripts
22
HSER-TOU Sound trims
22
Synoses of Kings of Opium Documentary as sent to HBO etc 1992
22
Updates - Kings of Opium
22
Thailand Contacts
22
Hong Kong - Originals English Transcripts
22
Hong Kong Contacts
22
Correspondence Hong Kong Police
22
Cassettes Sent by WSBH
22
Memoes
22
Opium Trail Press Cuts
22
Burma Research
22
Feature Sequence List
22
Transparencies sent for Prints
22
Kings Feature
1995-1997
22
Evergo Negotiations
22
Kings of Opium Development Proposal for Feature Film
1996
22
King - L.A negotiations
1993
22
Chay Yew Approach to Kings Screenplay
22
Kings of Opium - Negotiations with Tony Scott's company
22
Kings of Opium - Sarah Radcliffe
22
Feature Thailand
22
Kings of Opium - Bobette
22
Registration of The Kings of Opium Script
22
Kings of Opium - Original Treatment
22
Heroin Wars Delivery Material to WGBH
22
Heroin Wars INGB 1997 / Transmission
22
Notes made during Hong Kong Shooting
22
Honk Kong Release Forms
22
Camera-Men
22
Ned Johnston
23
Correspondence Re. Hong Kong Shoot
23
Library Material - Hong Kong / Legalisation
23
Drug Legalisation Film
23
Political Film - Thailand
23
Kings Research Expenses
23
ITV, C4 and Co-production possibilities
23
China Productions
23
Next Thai Trip
23
Thai Production
23
Kings / Thailand accounts - Discussed with Andy
23
Budget South East Asia notes
23
My Budget C4 kings
23
My Budget for WGBH / Central Kings of Opium
23
War on Drugs Synopsis
23
Latest Budget Estimate
1994
23
Budget
Dec-95
23
The Heroin Wars - Comments from Roger, C4, Richard
23
Synopsis June 1993 - 1994 Updates
1993-1994
23
Synopsis for ITV
Jul-93
23
The Heroin Wars Non-theatric Sales
23
1970's Opium Series None-theatric - Europe
23
Opium Films
23
Opium/Welbeck Asian Series - Dub Charts & Cutting Orders
23
Welbeck Asian Series / The Opium Series: The Warlords: Sound Shotlists
23
Cutting Notes - No indication of which film
23
Final Sequence List - The Opium Warlords
23
The Opium Warlords: Shotlists for Reels 1, 2 & 3 - multiple copies of each
23
Welbeck Asian Series: Extra ¼" Tape Sound Shotlist Sheets: Same as 001 and 002
23
Opium Warlords - Reel II - Master Copy of Final Commentary
23
The Opium Warlords - Reel 1 - Commentary: Master Copy
23
The Opium Warlords - Reel 1 - Commentary: Final Version
23
Asian Series - Short Trims
23
Welbeck Asian Series: First Draft - Cutting Script
23
Thai Buddhism
23
The Heroin Series aka The Heroin Wars: Transmission Scripts for all 3 programmes
23
The Heroin Series aka The Heroin Wars: Part 2 - Smack City - Partial Transcript
23
Shan States Transparencies (Slides)
23
Asian Series Travel Account Bills
1964-1965
68
Welbeck Asian Series List on Contents with envelope
68
Invoice for TeleCine - The Heroin Wars
68
Report 2
68
Report 2
68
Jimmy Yang
68
Opium - Warlords - Transmission Script
68
Radio Film - Shothots
68
Final Prescuts Re Fuun SH
68
Music - Kings of Opium
68
Kings Music Copyright Correspondence
68
Music Copyright Argeements for "Opium Trail" + "Opium" Series (x3)
68
Music Copyright (2 of 2) Release Opium
68
Hong Kong - Opium, Sound Sheets - Copies
68
The Light of Asia
68
Sound Transfer Reports - Original for Syncing, Welbeck Asian Series/Opium Series
68
Music, The Unknown War 8641, Thai Buddhism 8642, Tibetan Buddhism 8643, The Sokagakkai 8644, The Opium Trail 864
68
Heroin Wars Cassettes Sent to
68
Kings of Opium - 1999 - Feature
68
Synopses Lords/Rhinos, Letters Authority, IMAX
68
Lords of the Forest Budget, IMAX
68
IMAX Funders, IMAX
68
Production Lords, IMAX Film - Lords of the Jungle/Forest
68
Research - Rhinos, Lords, IMAX Film - Lords of the Forest/Jungle
68
Handwritten notes in FedEx Folder
68
Shan Book
68
Intro Shan Book
68
Shot Notes Opium Warlords
68
Heroin Series - Combined Camera + Sound Shot List, Heroin Series - Combined 001
68
HongKong Sound Sheets, AC6D2 Sound Sheets
69
A/S Sound Transfer Reports - For Additional Tracks, Welbeck Asian Series
69
23 Ektachrome Rejects Cowell (negative and photographs)
69
Hong Kong - Tapes
Box/Folder
69
Asian Series, Buddhism Tape + Sound Charts, Shot Lists, Pic/Sound
69
Shans - Khun Sa (KodaChrome slides and photographs)
69
Masters Tape Log
69
Kurkrit + Thai Buddhism (slides)
69
Thailand Selected but not Filmed (slides)
69
Unit Kukrits Hse General (slides)
69
Journal of the Hong Kong Institute of Social Research
69
Chinese Opium Narcotics: A Threat to the Survival of the West
69
Proposal to Control Opium from the Golden Triangle and Terminate the Shan Opium Trade
69
The Narcotics Situation in Southeast Asia: Report of a Special Study Mission
69
White Paper on Drug Abuse: A Report to the President from the Domestic Council Drug Abuse Task Force
69
Opium Production, Narcotics Financing and Trafficking in Southeast Asia
69
The Narcotics Situation in Southeast Asia: Report of a Special Study Mission
69
The Narcotics Situation in Southeast Asia: The Asian Connection
69
Southeast Asian Narcotics, Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control
69
Rules of the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control
69
Faxes re: FBI interview
69
Assorted Papers including: Congressional Record - House H4575, various memos, Notes on Film Project for Brazil 1963
69
Negatives, slides, and photographs
69
Thailand - 636 Transparencies (slides and photographs)
70
Burma General
70
Thai Rainmaker
70
Burma The WA
70
Shan email news Releases, Correspondence 2000
70
New Guinea Maps
70
Opium--Daphnes Cuttings
70
Shan States. Photographs
70
Lohsin Han, Shan States. Photographs
70
Heroin Series. Master copy Thailand Shotlists
70
Heroin Series (1992) Location Shotlists
70
Thailand Hi8 Shotlists
70
Videos lifted onto C.F.S. Film 5/95 & 12/95 Shotlist info
70
Kings of Heroine Broken Down for Copyright
70
Thailand Shotlists, Heroin Stories 1993
70
Photographs--Cowell, Menges, United Press, John Swain, Newspaper Clippings, LoHsin Han
70
Neds Camera Notebooks, Heroin Stories
70
Asian Series Tape Shot List (Notebook)
70
The Unknown War incl Shotlist
70
The Opium Trail, Cutting order? Script?
70
Shan Shot lists broken down
70
Sequence Lists 1 & 2
70
Opium Warlords Camera Shotlists (Notebook)
70
Thailand Log (Notebook)
70
Heroin Wars, Opium Convoys Dub Charts
70
Heroin Wars, Smack City, Dub Charts
70
Heroin Wars, Kings of Opium Dub Charts
71
Correspondence and Misc.
1971-2007

Series 3:  Audio RecordingsReturn to Top

17.1 cubic feet (15 boxes)

Container(s) Description
Box
24
Music (Nepal, Tibet, Shan), sound including golf, birds, traffic, monks chanting, temple bells, trains.
69 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
25
Welbeck Asian Series, the Opium Warlords. Interviews: Law Hsin Han, Pikuey, Khung Siang. Music.
29 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
26
ATV Washington. Press conference with Jimmy Carter. Interviews with Tom Vogel, Lester Wolff, John Coleman, Bill Davie.
37 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
27
Welbeck Asian Series. Interview: Sao Kun Siang, Sao Hsen Hlen (?).
34 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
28
Interview: Hser Hten, Boon Tai. Chinese music. The Shans tape. The Opium Warlords Foreign and English Dialect. Opium Warlords, Opium 1 Hong Kong, Opium Warlords, Opium Hong Kong White Powder Opera, The Politicians, King in Jungle, Asian Series, Welbeck Asian Series CBS News Bulleting for End Credits, Burmese Film Shown at Hearings,
34 Audiotapes and Audio cassettes ; 1/4"
29
Nomad films. Tibetan camp. ATV Washington.
55 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
30
ATV Hong Kong. Audio corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
107 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
31
Welbeck Asian Series. Interviews, music. Audiotapes corresponding with film reels related to Welbeck Asian Series production.
48 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
32
Welbeck Asian Series. Shan music, voice over, audiotape corresponding to film reels related to Welbeck Asian Series.
50 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
33
Welbeck Asian Series. Audiotapes corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
52 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
34
Welbeck Asian Series. Audiotapes corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
46 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
35
Welbeck Asian Series. Audiotapes corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
29 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
36
Welbeck Asian Series. Audiotapes corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
38 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
37
ATV Hong Kong. Audio corresponding to film reels related to ATV production.
84 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
38
ATV Washington. Audio corresponding to film reels related to ATV production, The Politicians.
52 Audiotapes ; 1/4"
72
Welbeck Asian Series 307
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"
72
Welbeck Asian Series Shan Music 300
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"
72
Welbeck Asian Series Shan Music 327
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"
72
Welbeck Asian Series Shan Music 322
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"
72
Welbeck Asian Series Shan Music 301
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"
72
Modern Species B
1 Audiotape ; 1/4"

Series 4:  PhotographsReturn to Top

10.26 cubic feet (9 boxes)

Container(s) Description
Box
39
Zephyr films. Negatives, prints and slides.
40
Slides, Photos, Contact Sheets and Notes
41
Assorted Photos, Slides, Contacts and Explanatory Notes
42
Photographs and documents related to Opium Kings, Peter Bourne, Khun Sa, Burma, Shan, Senate hearings.
43
Photographs
44
Photos and Slides.
45
Photographs related to Kings of Opium, the Heroin Wars. Peter Bourne's visit.
46
Photographs
47
Media related to The Masked Dance. Slides, Photos, Contact Sheets and Notes
72
Shan Leaders?
2 unidentified portraits (appear to be copies of photographs printed on oversize paper)

Series 5:  Video RecordingsReturn to Top

22.8 cubic feet (20 boxes)

Container(s) Description
Box
48
Telecine of original films: Smack City, Opium Convoys, Washington, Heroin Wars. News stories.
11 Videotapes (BetaMaxSP, Umatic, D-5)
49
Copies of programs, research tapes, interviews, Peter Bourne Trip, Lo Sin Hanh, Mon Gy trip
43 Videotapes (VHS, Hi-8mm)
50
Copies of programs, original tapes, research tapes, interviews.
93 Audiocassetes and Videotapes (DAT, Hi-8mm, Umatic)
51
Copies of programs, original tapes.
46 Videotapes (VHS, BetaCamSP, VC60)
52
Don Ferrarone interview, DEA, Thailand. Copies of television programs.
19 Audiotapes and Videotapes (1/4" Audiotape, BetaCamSP, Umatic, VC60, VHS )
53
Copies of programs.
12 Videotapes (Umatic)
54
Research tapes (Supercop, Peru Drug Wars, Colombian Police). Copies of programs. Final audio mix.
28 Videotapes (DAT, Umatic, VHS)
55
Khun Sa speeches. Interview with Lo Sin Hahn.
20 Videotapes (VHS, Betacam SP, DigiBeta)
56
Television programs.
11 Videotapes (Umatic)
57
Telecine of original films. Copies of programs. Research tapes.
31 Videotapes (VHS, Betacam SP)
58
Telecine of original films. Copies of programs.
20 Audiotapes and Videotapes (1/4" Audiotape, BetaCamSP, Umatic, VHS)
59
Press conferences. Research tapes including films from the National Archives.
19 Videotapes (BetaCam SP, D-2)
60
Copies of The Opium Series, The Heroin Wars, Raid Into Tibet, Opium Kings, White Powder Opera, Opium Trail,Opium Warlords, White Powder Opera, and research tapes including "God's Heart for the Poor" St. Stephens Society, NBC Footage of the State Department Commenting on Khun Sa, Burmese Film Shown at KAT Hearings, ABC News Story re: Hearings
21 Videotapes (Umatic, BetacamSP, VHS )
61
The Heroin Wars Episodes 1 & 2. Texted Master, Textless Master, Subtitled, Subtitled and Texted, Submitted Final Version. The Heroin Wars Episode 3 Texted Master w/o Subtitles (Damaged)
13 Videotapes (Digital Betacam, D2, Umatic)
62
Thailand and Opium Trail production elements. 1' Tape of The Masked Dance "off transmission copy"
12 Videotapes (1", Umatic, Betacam)
63
The Opium Warlords, The Opium Series, Thailand Assembly, The Masked Dance, elements
15 Videotapes (Umatic, BetacamSP, VHS)
64
Opium: The Politicians, Unknown War, The Opium Trail, Kings of Opium Thailand elements
16 Videotapes (Umatic, D1, BetacamSP, Audio Cassette)
65
The Opium Trail, The Unknown War, Opium Warlords, Politicians
17 Videotapes (D1, D2, Umatic, BetacamSP)
66
The Opium Warlords Part 1-2, Ch 1 F/Mix $& Ch2 M&E
1 Videotape (DL1-76)
67
The Opium Warlords Part 3
1 Videotapes (DL1-76)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Moving Image Collections (University of Washington)
  • Opium
  • Opium trade--Burma--Shan State
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Cowell, Adrian--Archives

Geographical Names

  • Burma--History--1962-1988
  • Burma--History--1988-
  • Burma--Politics and government
  • Shan State (Burma)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Menges, Chris, 1940- (cinematographer)