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<DIV>Wonder how long before the public gets to view any of these?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR><BR>> A colleague has pointed this fantastic news out to me (it is in <BR>> Japanese): <BR>> <BR>> http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/shakai/wadai/news/ <BR>> 20050211ddm041040082000c.html <BR>> <BR>> This has also been reported on the Masters of Cinema website and here <BR>> is their summary: <BR>> <BR>> February 11, 2005 <BR>> <BR>> [50,000 OLD ASIAN FILMS FOUND] <BR>> <BR>> Mainichi Shimbun newspaper today reports the death of a legendary <BR>> Japanese film collector, Yoshishige Abe, aged 81. His father was a <BR>> police doctor who worked for the Korean Consulate, and together they <BR>> both collected fifty-thousand films both pre and post war at their <BR>> storehouse. They had previously refused all investigations by scholars, <BR>> and it is not clear just how many of the films !
are still viewable. <BR>> <BR>> The article focuses mostly on Na Unkyu's debut Arirang (1926), one of <BR>> the most influential films of early Korean cinema, and long thought <BR>> lost. North and South Korea apparently each sent representatives to <BR>> reclaim the film but Abe refused. Thinking of it as an anti-Japan movie <BR>> he said he would be willing to give the film rolls to both nations only <BR>> if Korea united. <BR>> <BR>> Abe has no heir, so after the lawful procedures, National Film Center <BR>> [Tokyo] will investigate the films. The catalogue contains Daichi wa <BR>> Hohoemu [The Earth Smiles] (Mizoguchi, 1925) amongst its many <BR>> treasures. Thanks to Kimitoshi Sato for sending us this incredible <BR>> news. -N.W. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> It's ironic that with the Korean boom in Japan these days, the Arirang <BR>> news is played up (important news though it is), even though it is much <BR>> more likely that!
the grand majority of these films are Japanese. <BR>> <BR>> I'v
e heard rumors about this guy for a while, but I only hope these <BR>> films are in good condition. There are a number of private collectors <BR>> out there who are hoarding their films, even when they are made of <BR>> explosive nitrate stock. Let's pray that there are some great films in <BR>> this collection and that they will be viewable. <BR>> <BR>> Aaron Gerow <BR>> KineJapan owner <BR>> <BR>> Assistant Professor <BR>> Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures <BR>> Yale University <BR>> <BR>> For list commands, send "information kinejapan" to <BR>> listserver@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu <BR>> Kinema Club: http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html <BR>> </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>