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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The main account on West Coast Japanese cinema circuits of
the period still seems to be <EM>The Exhibition of Films for Japanese Americans
in Los Angeles During the Silent Era</EM> by Junko Ogihara, 1990 in <EM>Film
History </EM>4: pp81-87. I seem to recall that Junko herself was able to
answer a similar query on this list a few years back. I would love to hear
that more work had been done. We are talking of California !</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The literature persistently refers to 'captured Japanese
films'. But, as Markus has raised, captured from whom, when and
where ? The numerous accounts I have read on Capra's outfit just
refer to the films' arriving. Rotha, in his appendix to the 1952 (3rd
edtn.) <EM>The Documentary Film</EM>, gives an account of Iris Barry (she,
again) as the central figure, providing much information to him, and it is
possible that a trawl of the Rotha papers might pull something in. But
given the total lack of Asian focus of </FONT><FONT face=Arial>either
writer, and that I haven't had a sniff of Japanese films coming through New
York, it hasn't seemed worth a transatlantic trip to prove another negative.
In the brief time I had at the National Archives in Washington, it didn't
seem difficult to find inventories and correspondence on captured German and
Italian films, but I drew a blank on the provenance of Japanese films.
They appeared very soon after Pearl Harbor, when the allies were far from
capturing or liberating any Japanese-held territories. Some may have
acquired from hastily-abandoned Japanese institutions in the west, but I have
seen no evidence that such organisations were propagating or widely exhibiting
information films, let alone feature films. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So does 'captured' mean 'not paid for' ? Were
some, or most of these confiscated from Americans who entered camps ? I
suppose it would matter whether the films were rented, or owned outright by
their contemporary holders, as to a fair categorisation. Impounded or
looted ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>And the other U.S place to do research is Hawaii
...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Quentin, I am inferring from your posting that there was
no pre-war Japanese-Australian community. But has <U>anyone</U> looked at
the possibility of Japanese film exhibition in South America ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Roger</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Quentin.Turnour@nfsa.gov.au
href="mailto:Quentin.Turnour@nfsa.gov.au">Quentin Turnour</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 08, 2010 7:56
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: question regarding early
archives and Japanese film</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>How established was the US
West Coast Japanese cinema circuit before the War? Were prints come in via
that and staying in the US - and who outside of the Japanese-American
community was seeing them pre-1941 - or afterwards?</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
size=2 face=sans-serif>I remember asking a few US film archivists and
historians about this some years ago, when I doing some research on extensive
Greek, Italian (and to a lesser extent Chinese ) immigrant cinema
circuits that existed down here and was curious about equivalent US migrant
cinema circuits. I was a bit surprised that (at least then) there didn't seem
to be much of a literature on this history. I could have not been looking in
the right places (this was in the early days of the Web) and wouldn't surprise
me if much more work had been done since. Be curious to know.</FONT>
<BR><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>Quentin Turnour, Programmer, <BR>Access,
Research and Development<BR>National Film and Sound Archive,
Australia<BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR>
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<TD width="40%"><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif><B>Mark Nornes
<amnornes@umich.edu></B> </FONT><BR><FONT size=1
face=sans-serif>Sent by: owner-KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT>
<P><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>08/02/2010 02:37 PM</FONT>
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<DIV align=center><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>Please respond
to<BR>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></DIV></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR></P>
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<DIV align=right><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>To</FONT></DIV>
<TD><FONT size=1
face=sans-serif>"KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"
<KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu></FONT>
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<TD>
<DIV align=right><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>cc</FONT></DIV>
<TD><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>Mark Nornes
<amnornes@umich.edu></FONT>
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<TD>
<DIV align=right><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>Subject</FONT></DIV>
<TD><FONT size=1 face=sans-serif>Re: question regarding early
archives and Japanese film</FONT></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
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size=1>Frank Capra and Ruth Benedict were watching Japanese feature films
shortly after Pearl Harbor. Where did the prints come from? It's an
interesting question. And as Roger indicates, the alternative universe where a
powerful programmer got behind Asian film could have altered the bedrock of
"international cinema" long before Rashomon.</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=3><BR>Markus</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT size=3>On Feb 7, 2010, at 7:26 PM,
Roger Macy wrote:</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Dear William,</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=3 face=Arial>This is a crucial point that you have hit.</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Iris Barry is one of a very small number of people
who, if they had any Asian focus, would have radically changed the preserved
landscape of film history.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Presumably like
you, I found very little to go on at MoMA. So, I followed the money to
the Rockefeller Foundation. The short answer is yes, its collection
activities were limited to the United States and Europe, including the Soviet
Union, and there was no failed rescue attempt for Japan. But there is a
slightly longer story which is likely to be told soon.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=3
face=Arial>Is there any chance we could meet at KinemaClub X ?</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Roger</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial>-----
Original Message -----</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial><B>From:</B>
</FONT><A href="mailto:ReelDrew@aol.com"><FONT color=blue size=2
face=Arial><U>ReelDrew@aol.com</U></FONT></A> <BR><FONT size=2
face=Arial><B>To:</B> </FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT color=blue size=2
face=Arial><U>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</U></FONT></A> <BR><FONT
size=2 face=Arial><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 07, 2010 10:52 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial><B>Subject:</B> question regarding early archives
and Japanese film</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I am right now
working on the final draft of my forthcoming book, "The Last Silent Picture
Show: Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s." Presently, I'm
doing the revisions for a chapter on the archival movement and the Museum of
Modern Art in the '30s.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Relating this to
Japanese film, I point out that MOMA in the Iris Barry years (1935-1951)
limited its collection of early cinema--and the programs of early films it
featured--to the historical development of filmmaking in the United States,
Western Europe and the Soviet Union. What I'd like to find out from
knowledgeable people here is does anyone know if my information is accurate?
Has anyone here, for example, seen any correspondence or other documents
indicating that Iris Barry was planning a program on the history of Japanese
cinema (and those of India and China as well) in say, 1939 but that the
outbreak of WWII halted this project? Or am I correct in my assumption
that the standard view of the historical development of cinema in those days,
as set forth at MOMA, completely omitted the early contributions of Latin
America, the Middle East and Asia, including Japan?</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2
face=Arial>I should point out that in the 1930s and 1940s, the Museum of
Modern Art Film Library, contrary to Peter Decherney's tendentious assertions
in "Hollywood and the Culture Elite," was not a national film archive and, in
fact, many important areas in early American film history were neglected due
to Iris Barry's international focus. Many at the time, in fact, felt it
was her preoccupation with the European art film that caused her to overlook
so much of the American cinema. Or perhaps in fairness to her, she was
trying to balance America and Europe in the collection she built up.
However, what I think was clearly left out of the film history programs
established by Barry at MOMA was the entire historical production of cinema in
Asia, the Middle East and Latin America during the first half of the 20th
century. I am not aware that Barry made any effort in the 1930s and
1940s to obtain examples of filmmaking from those countries beyond Hollywood
and Europe. If anyone here, however, has information to the contrary,
specifically, of course, with respect to Japanese cinema, I would very much
like to know. I wish my analysis to be as accurate as possible.</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT> <BR><FONT size=2 face=Arial>William
M. Drew</FONT> <BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>