Häxan, released in 1922, is a Swedish-Danish silent film that blends scholarly documentary with dramatic horror. Director Benjamin Christensen based it on non-fiction sources, mainly the 15th-century witch-hunting manual Malleus Maleficarum, rather than a novel. Its first chapter is a 13-minute illustrated lecture using photographs of paintings, statues and woodcuts, which many consider one of the earliest documentaries. The rest are dramatised scenes, with Christensen himself playing the devil. The film was reportedly the most expensive of Swedish silent cinema, and it was banned in the United States and censored elsewhere. A 1968 version narrated by William S. Burroughs shortened it.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.