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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Joanne,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Many thanks for this. But when I read that
correspondence, I do not recall it documenting or accounting for the films'
origins. The reason I have that memory is that I recall asking the staff
for information on provenance <U>after</U> reading it, to no avail, other than
to search at the National Archives. Of course, I would appreciate being
corrected, or informed by your more comprehensive research.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>By the time of that correspondence, the collections had
been vastly augmented by material that had been confiscated post-surrender, or
captured during the fighting. Hence the account that Quentin recalls is
broadly accurate for the bulk of the returned material. But the expression
'captured' started with the feature films used by Benedict and Capra's
outfit from the start of the pacific war. It still seems remarkable
to me that we occidentals have remained hide-bound by an
unchallenged euphemism, when others have been clearer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Roger</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>----- Original Message ----- </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>From: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:dburall1@rochester.rr.com"><FONT
face=Arial>dburall1@rochester.rr.com</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Cc: "Sybil Thornton" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:camford1989@yahoo.com"><FONT
face=Arial>camford1989@yahoo.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 10:28 PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Subject: Re: question regarding early archives and
Japanese film</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial>Hi,<BR><BR>I've done
extensive research on the LOC Captured Foreign Print Collection, and spoken with
Pat Loughney (now head of the NAVCC, LOC's Packard Campus) about the provenance
of the material in the collection.<BR><BR>There is correspondence in the files
at LOC that documents the exchange between LOC and NFC. The exchange was
arranged around 1967. A Japanese visitor to the LOC inquired if the Library
would consider returning the films, and the Library agreed under the condition
that the Library receive in exchange 16mm copies of the films. This was how the
exchange was made, and as I understand from individuals at both institutions,
this collection was the "seed" collection for the National Film
Center.<BR><BR>Joanne<BR><BR>Joanne Bernardi<BR>University of
Rochester<BR><BR><BR><BR>---- Sybil Thornton <</FONT><A
href="mailto:camford1989@yahoo.com"><FONT
face=Arial>camford1989@yahoo.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>> wrote: <BR>>
Hi,<BR>> I seem to remember being told by someone at the Tokyo Museum of Art
Film Center that all Japanese films in the US (mostly California) had been
confiscated, used for such things as language preparation for American soldiers,
and then returned to Japan to help establish the Film Center.<BR>> <BR>>
Cheers,<BR>> SA Thornton<BR>> SHPRS<BR>> Arizona State
University<BR>> <BR>> --- On Mon, 2/8/10, </FONT><A
href="mailto:jessicalanger@googlemail.com"><FONT
face=Arial>jessicalanger@googlemail.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>
<</FONT><A href="mailto:jessicalanger@googlemail.com"><FONT
face=Arial>jessicalanger@googlemail.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>>
wrote:<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> From: </FONT><A
href="mailto:jessicalanger@googlemail.com"><FONT
face=Arial>jessicalanger@googlemail.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>
<</FONT><A href="mailto:jessicalanger@googlemail.com"><FONT
face=Arial>jessicalanger@googlemail.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>><BR>>
Subject: Re: question regarding early archives and Japanese film<BR>> To:
</FONT><A href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial>> Date: Monday, February 8, 2010, 7:36 AM<BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> Hi all,<BR>> <BR>> Had to jump in here (sorry that it's from my
BlackBerry; I hope my formatting holds up) as I spent the summer a few years ago
working on a film print from 1939 that had been 'captured' in the States and
held in the Library of Congress, then 'returned' to the NFC in Japan - though I
don't remember if the archivist at the NFC used those terms, per se. It was my
impression from our conversation that the print had indeed been imported for
viewing in a Japanese film theatre in California and then, most likely,
confiscated from an interned American of Japanese descent.<BR>> <BR>> I
wonder how many films had a similar journey - shipped to the States or elsewhere
pre-war, survived the war in an archive, then returned to Japan. And I wonder
why certain films are sent to the NFC or another archive in Japan upon discovery
and other films aren't. Food for thought, maybe.<BR>> <BR>> Jessica
Langer<BR>> Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless
Network<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> From: Mark Nornes <</FONT><A
href="mailto:amnornes@umich.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>amnornes@umich.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>> <BR>> Date:
Mon, 8 Feb 2010 09:20:41 -0500<BR>> To: </FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>><BR>> Cc: Mark Nornes<</FONT><A
href="mailto:amnornes@umich.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>amnornes@umich.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>><BR>> Subject:
Re: question regarding early archives and Japanese film<BR>> <BR>> Roger,
I never thought about the issue of the provenance of the prints in the "captured
films" collection of the National Archives—or of the substantially larger
collection in the Library of Congress. But if, indeed, the catalog records
indicate that they were brought in before the tide of the war turned 1942, then
this strongly suggests that they were swiped from the Japanese American theaters
when everyone was rounded up and put into the camps. Everyone has always
pondered, "What ever happened to all those prints?" Perhaps now we know. How
depressing a thought.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> An aside: the only captured
print whose provenance I do know is Dawn of Freedom, or Ano Hata o Ute.
"Captured" is the wrong term in the case. The film is about the battles of
Bataan and Corregidor, and quite incredibly uses POWs to recreate their own
surrender. MacArthur, then in Australia, had heard about the film and demanded
to see it. So—the story goes—the resistance "kidnapped' a print, smuggled it out
of the country by donkey cart and boat, and MacArthur got his screening. The
film was thought lost for decades, because the cinematographer burned all the
prints as the Americans landed in Japan (humliating POWs being a war crime and
all). But I stumbled on the Philippines version (English subs for the Japanese,
no subs for Tagalog) in the National Archives back in 1990. This is presumably
MacArthur's print. (A Japanese print surfaced a few years later and is now on
video; if you want to learn more about this insane story check out the article
I<BR>> wrote for a Japan Foundation symposium): </FONT><A
href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~amnornes/Dawn.pdf"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www-personal.umich.edu/~amnornes/Dawn.pdf</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>). <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Markus<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
_________________________________<BR>> A. M. Nornes<BR>> Chair<BR>>
Department of Screen Arts and Cultures<BR>> University of Michigan<BR>>
202 South Thayer St., Suite 6111<BR>> Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608<BR>> Phone:
734-647-2094<BR>> FAX: 734-647-0157<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> On Feb 8, 2010, at 8:49 AM, Roger Macy wrote:<BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> The main account on West Coast Japanese cinema
circuits of the period still seems to be The Exhibition of Films for Japanese
Americans in Los Angeles During the Silent Era by Junko Ogihara, 1990 in Film
History 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 !<BR>> <BR>> 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.) The Documentary Film, 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 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<BR>> 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.
<BR>> <BR>> 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 ?<BR>> <BR>> And the
other U.S place to do research is Hawaii ...<BR>> <BR>> Quentin, I am
inferring from your posting that there was no pre-war Japanese-Australian
community. But has anyone looked at the possibility of Japanese film exhibition
in South America ?<BR>> <BR>> Roger<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> -----
Original Message -----<BR>> <BR>> From: Quentin Turnour<BR>> To:
</FONT><A href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial>> Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 7:56 AM<BR>> Subject: Re:
question regarding early archives and Japanese film<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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? <BR>>
<BR>> 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. <BR>> <BR>> Quentin Turnour, Programmer, <BR>> Access,
Research and Development<BR>> National Film and Sound Archive,
Australia<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Mark Nornes <</FONT><A
href="mailto:amnornes@umich.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>amnornes@umich.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>> <BR>> Sent by:
</FONT><A href="mailto:owner-KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>owner-KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial>> 08/02/2010 02:37 PM<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
Please respond to<BR>> </FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> To<BR>>
"</FONT><A href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>"
<</FONT><A href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>><BR>> <BR>> <BR>> cc<BR>> Mark Nornes <</FONT><A
href="mailto:amnornes@umich.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>amnornes@umich.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>><BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> Subject<BR>> Re: question regarding early archives and Japanese
film<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> 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. <BR>> <BR>> Markus <BR>>
<BR>> On Feb 7, 2010, at 7:26 PM, Roger Macy wrote: <BR>> <BR>> Dear
William, <BR>> This is a crucial point that you have hit. <BR>> 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. <BR>>
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. <BR>> Is there any chance we
could meet at KinemaClub X ? <BR>> Roger <BR>> ----- Original Message
----- <BR>> From: </FONT><A href="mailto:ReelDrew@aol.com"><FONT
face=Arial>ReelDrew@aol.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial> <BR>> To: </FONT><A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial>
<BR>> Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 10:52 PM <BR>> Subject: question
regarding early archives and Japanese film <BR>> <BR>> 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. <BR>> 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? <BR>> 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<BR>> 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. <BR>>
<BR>> William M. Drew <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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