Manchukuo Film Association
Encyclopedia
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
film production company
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
in the 1930s and 40s.
Early history
The Manchukuo Film Association was established on August 14, 1937, as a 50:50 joint ventureJoint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between the government of Manchukuo and the South Manchurian Railway Company. The original studios were located at a former woolen goods factory, with the offices at the former Jilin Architectural Institute (吉林省建築設計院) in Jilin Province
Kirin
Kirin may refer to:People*Ivica Kirin , politician, former Interior Minister of Croatia*Kirin Kiki , Japanese TV and film actressCompanies* Kirin Brewery Company, a Japanese brewing company...
.
Nobusuke Kishi
Nobusuke Kishi
was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. He was often called Shōwa no yōkai .- Early life :...
, one of the top officials involved in the industrial development of Manchukuo, enlisted Masahiko Amakasu, head of Manchukuo's Ministry of Civil Affairs, to manage the operation in 1939. Amakasu threw himself wholeheartedly into the project, bringing in a noted architect from Tokyo to remodel the studio design after the German's
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
studio. Amakasu strove hard to improve the quality of the works produced, traveling to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to acquire the latest movie camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
s and production techniques, and inviting noted Japanese movie stars, directors and conductors (such as Takashi Asahina
Takashi Asahina
was a Japanese conductor. Born in Tokyo, he founded the Kansai Symphonic Orchestra in 1947 and remained its chief conductor until his death in Kobe. Inspired by a meeting with Wilhelm Furtwängler in the 1950s, he began a lifelong attachment to the music of Anton Bruckner, recording the complete...
) to visit Manchukuo to participate in his productions. His efforts were instrumental in launching the career of the actress and singer Yoshiko Ōtaka
Yoshiko Otaka
, is a China-born Japanese actress and singer who made a career in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars...
, better known as "Ri Kōran".
Man'ei produced a large number of films, falling roughly into three categories: "human drama", "educational" and "documentary". The Japanese government continued to provide financial support, and the Association produced works which spoke as positively about the Manchukuo government as possible.
Separation
In 1945, following the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo, and subsequent chaos surrounding the surrender of JapanSurrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
, the studio disintegrated. Its equipment was looted by the Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and Masahiko Amakasu committed suicide by taking poison. In August 1945, the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
fought over the rights to the former company. By April 1946 the Communist Party of China officially took control of the Association, and merged it with the Northeast Film Studio
Northeast Film Studio
Northeast Film Studio was one of the first formally-established movie production company in the northeast part of China.-Early history:After the War of Resistance against Japan the studio was established in the Dongbei territory of China. On October 1, 1946 the studio was relocated to Xingshan in...
. The collection of the studio was later consolidated into the Changchun Film Studio making it the central point of movie production in the People’s Republic of China.
Legacy
The Manchukuo Film Association is one of the most controversial companies in the history of Chinese cinemaCinema of China
The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
, since its works are viewed as propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and part of the cultural expansion or cultural invasion of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
About half of the Association's film archives were lost to the Soviets in the aftermath of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In May 1995, Japan repurchased the films that were in the lost segment. Initially a Japanese company packaged the films in 30 episodes to be sold in Japan at 300,000 yen. The Chinese government lodged an official complaint about the legitimacy of the matter, since the government of the People's Republic of China claims copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ownership of any of the former works of Manchukuo, and the films were reproduced without China's consent. Japan agreed to give some works back as compensation. Some are preserved today in China's National Film Archives, others are preserved in the Changchun Film Studio.