Prokino

[Abe-Nornes]

For those interested in learning more about Prokino, here is a slightly
revised footnote from my dissertation:

By far the best history of Prokino is Namiki Shinsaku (Iwasaki Taro , Nihon
Puroretaria Eiga Domei (Purokino) Zenshi ("A Complete History of the Japan
Proletariat Film League (Prokino)"), (Tokyo: Gendai Shuppan, 1986). 

A shorter history emphasizing the movements' publishing efforts is Makino
Mamoru, "Shinko Eiga, Puroretaria Eiga, Purokino, Dainiji Purokino Oyobi
Eiga Kurabu---Kaisetsu, Kaidai" (Shinko Eiga, Proletarian Film, Prokino,
the Second Proletarian Film, and Film Club---Commentary and Bibliography"),
in Sayoku Eiga Zasshi: Bekkan ([Left-Wing Film Magazines---Extra"), (Tokyo:
Senki Fukkokuban Gyokai, 1981), 3-27. This publication also includes a
complete bibliography of the Prokino magazines, as well as short
reminiscences by nineteen former members which provide a vivid portrait of
the movement from a variety of perspectives. 

This was the index for the impressive reproduction of all the Prokino
magazines. In fact, it's the finest reproduction of any of the old film
journals. Organized collectively by former members and Makino Mamoru, they
bound each journal seperately and reproduced the covers in similar papers
with identical colors. They even reproduced Eiga Kurabu, a worker's
newspaper that was often handwritten and mimeographed.  On top of all this,
they also included copies of tickets and programs and a poster from several
of their screenings!  If you want to learn about Prokino, this should be
your first stop. It can be ordered from Kusansha, 1-5-7 Hongo  Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113 Japan......or ordered through interlibrary loan from a number of
US universities, including the Univ. of  Michigan. 

[You can see one of these tickets on the Kinema Club website:
http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Burch.notes.html.  I also put up a
copy of a Prokino poster on another page: 
http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Kiroku.html.]

For shorter histories, check out Fujita Motohiko, Gendai Eiga no Kigen
("The Origin of Modern Cinema"), (Tokyo: Kinokuniya, 1965), which traces
the relationship of the movement to the tendency film. Also see Namiki's
"Purokino no Undo ("The Movement of Prokino"), in Musei Eiga no Kansei
("The Completion of the Silent Film"), Koza Nihon Eiga 2 (Tokyo: Iwanami
Shoten, 1986), 228-241. Makino offers a good bibliography in the useful
roundtable with Noto Setsuo, Iwasaki Taro, Iwasaki Akira, Atsugi Taka,
Kitagawa Tetsuo, Makino Mamoru, "Prokino's Activities" ("Purokino no
Katsudo"), Gendai to Shiso 19 (March 1975): 86-117. Iwasaki also offers a
lively history of the movement in his biography: Iwasaki Akira, Nihon Eiga
Shishi ("A Personal History of the Japanese Cinema"), (Tokyo: Asahi
Shinbunsha, 1977), 11-92. Contemporary histories of interest include
Kamimura Shoichi, "Nippon Puroretaria Eiga Hattatsu-shi" ("A History of the
Development of Japanese Proletarian Cinema"), in Puroletaria Eiga to
Chishiki ("Proletarian Film and Knowledge"), (Tokyo: Naigaisha, 1932),
25-60; also Kitagawa Tetsuo, "Puroretaria Eiga Undo no Rekishi" ("History
of the Proletarian Film Movement"), in Puroretaria Eiga Undo Riron ("Theory
of the Proletarian Film Movement"), (Tokyo: Tenjinsha, 1930), 3-19; and
Iwasaki Akira, Eiga to Shihonshugi ("Film and Capitalism"), (Tokyo: aisha,
1931). 

Puroletaria Eiga to Chishiki and Puroretaria Eiga Undo Riron are two of
several readers that Prokino published. They are also very interesting,
although hard to get a hold of.

A few articles have been published in English. First of all, the left-wing
filmmakers in America and Germany were paying close attention to Prokino.
Arguably, Prokino was more ambitious than the collectives formed there such
as Nykino and the Film and Photo League. The famous playright Senda Koreya
wrote a report on Prokino during a trip to Germany that inspired the
formation of a film movement there (Senda Koreya, "Proletarische
Film-Bewegung in Japan," Arbeiterbuehne und Film 18.2 (February 1931):
26-27). In English, check out "Proletarian Cinema in Japan," Experimental
Cinema 5 (1934): 52, which is brief but interesting.

A retrospective view may be found in the lively discussion between Noto
Setsuo and Komori Shizuo in A.A. Gerow, and Makino Mamoru, "Documentarists
of Japan: Prokino," Documentary Box 5 (15 October 1994): 6-14. English and
original Japanese text is available on the World Wide Web at:
http://zao.tuad.ac.jp/net-expo/ff/box/box5/en/b5-2.html. 

Also see Bert Hogenkamp, "Workers' Newsreels in Germany, the Netherlands
and Japan During the Twenties and Thirties," in ed. Thomas Waugh, "Show Us
Life": Toward a History and Aesthetics of the Committed Documentary
(Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1984), 47-68. In German, see Yamada
Kazuo, "Das soziale Erwachen des japanischen Films," in ed. Eckhart Jahnke,
Manred Lichtenstein, Kazuo Yamada, Dokumentarfilm in Japan, Seine
demokratische und kaempferische Traditionen (Berlin: Staatliches Filmarchiv
der DDR), 29-40.

I just read Makino's rensai in KineJun from a couple months back, and he
mentions that there was an event dedicated to Prokino at the Kawasaki City
Museum. Did anyone go?

Markus