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On the Exportation of Japanese Motion Picture Films
By Dr. Arnold Fanck
This is the gist of a lecture delivered by Dr. Arnold Fanck at the Imperial Ffotel on October 31, 1936 under the auspices of Dai Nippon Eiga Kyokai (The Japan Motion Picture Foundation). Dr. Fanck came to this country in February, 1936 to make “The New Earth” (A tarashiki Tsuchi) a joint picture of German and Japanese, and he stayed here until February, 1937 when the picture above referred to was completed and released.
A few attempts have hitherto been made to export Japanese motion picture films, but they did not achieve a success. If you will allow me to express my opinion, I think there are two reasons for this. The first reason is purely an economic one, for speaking from my personal observation, the motion picture industry of Japan cannot develop any more in respect of technics, because motion picture producers of Japan would do not in¬ vest more money in making their own films than they are able to redeem in Japan.
I will now express this thesis briefly in figures. A sum of money which Japanese motion picture producer can expend on one specially made film, ( I will not take up the common pictures here), is the amount that can be redeemed by the receipts from the motion picture theatres in Japan, which is 50,000 Yen, while, on the contrary, a German producer can spend 500,000 Yen for a film, on an average, or exactly ten times as much as the Japanese. To sum up, the quality of a motion picture film is not only depended upon splendid will and artistic ability, but I regret to say, it is depended upon the money. We have a chance to recover 100,000 to 300,000 Yen by exporting our common films to foreign countries, but Japanese motion pictures producers do not have this possibility at all. If we in Germany, notwithstanding the fact that we have ten times as much pos¬ sibilities of making profits as Japan, find it difficult to keep pace with American films which we could not oppose technically, it will be absolutely impossible for Japanese motion picture world that has to make a motion picture film with only 30,000 or 50,000 Yen, to build studios in European or American style and to install the technical equipment as in Germany. I think, however, it is nothing but a wonder to see that Japanese motion picture industry is constantly advancing and establishing technically, ir¬ respective of small profits. For instance, Japanese motion picture producers are able to make a splendid motion picture film with a sum of money which is equivalent to that
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