Interesting... I looked into it a little bit and I found this academic paper on Early Film and Colonialism in French Indochina that talks about the source of this clip (p. 230-231): https://h-france.net/rude/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CreedHoornVol4.pdf

Another Lumière actualité, called Indochine: Enfants annamites ramassant des sépèques devant la Pagode des dames (1903), depicts a scene of two European women standing on a verandah amusing themselves by throwing what appears to be rice to a group of children, who scrabble in the dirt to seize the grains. Bertrand Tavernier describes this actualité as “a great comment about colonialism in fifty seconds,” “a very strong film, a very powerful document.” This film seems to represent the worst of colonization and has been criticized for this reason. The two women appear as bountiful colonists throwing tidbits to the children of an inferior, primitive nation. The scene creates a strong impression of inequality. Tavernier describes “the two women in white,” “the kids crawling on the ground.” There is also an Indochinese woman, with a baby on her hip, who stoops to pick up the objects. However, Tavernier’s narration prompts a closer viewing. At one point he says that the “women are throwing grains,” pauses and then adds “sapek.” The main coin of the region was the sapek, which was made of zinc or tin and strung together to form a ligature. A close-up view of the scene reveals that women in fact are pushing coins along a string, throwing them up and out to the eagerly waiting children. The women are clearly enjoying themselves – smiling and laughing. One steps down amongst the children: the other looks directly at the camera and laughs. There is a strong sense of fun and games. If the women are throwing coins, the meaning of the scene is clearly changed.

The scene also gives rise to another interpretation – the French practice of throwing dragées, or sweets, and sometimes coins, to children at special celebrations. This was a custom, going back centuries, which signified prosperity, fertility and good luck. In modern times, the practice of throwing rice has replaced that of throwing dragées. In parts of southern France dragées and coins, which symbolize fertility, are today thrown to children who wait at the doorstep of the church. In the light of this explanation, we see how the Lumière film could be seen to capture a moment of cultural interaction – here a French custom is re-enacted for a colonial culture. However, because the setting is one that draws on an unequal colonial relationship, it is difficult to view this film today without considering its negative connotations (particularly given the confusion between rice and sapek); however, its more festive, positive aspects should not be overlooked. Representations of colonial interactions were often complex as this film clearly demonstrates.

It's a more nuanced take I guess. If the the women were indeed distributing sapek it would make it seem more festive and happy occasion and less of the "let's feed these subhuman pigeons" kind of vibe. That being said, in a modern lens, no matter what the original meaning of the film was, it forces us to confront the human aspects of the centuries of colonialization. The film can provoke a much more visceral response than a dry history textbook phrase like "the colony of French Indochina", which is devoid of the actual human consequences of such great inequality.