Early Cinema in Asia by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2018-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Source for data: Distribution protocols of Nordisk Film, XI, 7 and XII, 33–43, Nordisk Film Special Collection, Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark; Isak Thorsen, “Isbjørnens anatomi: Nordisk Films Kompagni som erhvervsvirksomhed i perioden 1906–1928” [Anatomy of the polar bear: Nordisk Films Kompagni as a business enterprise in the period 1906–1928] (PhD diss., Copenhagen University, 2009), 40.

Note: The years refer to the year of distribution, not the year of production. No distribution protocols exist until spring 1912.

*My research in Southeast Asian archives has found more films than the listed number.

†No specific film titles have been found, but there is a contract between Nordisk Film and Rudolph G. Riis from this period.

The actual number of films exported to Asia is considerably higher. My archival research in Asian newspapers shows that many more films were exported to the Dutch East Indies, Straits Settlements, India, British Malaya, and Siam, particularly before 1920. I have identified more than fifty Nordisk Film productions exhibited in Singapore, Malacca, and Kuala Lumpur before 1920. Furthermore, many early films were based on subjects and stories produced by several different film companies, such as Sherlock Holmes (Nordisk Film made five films on the character between 1908 and 1909), William Tell, Robinson Crusoe, and Hamlet. Thus, even more Nordisk Film productions were exhibited in Southeast Asia, since, with a few exceptions, the manufacturer of these films is not listed in film advertisements. In addition to the feature films, Nordisk Film made many travelogues, especially in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The international outlook of the company was thus combined with representations of Scandinavian nature, as exemplified by most of the companies’ travelogues.51 I have found several film advertisements with Scandinavian travelogues exhibited around Southeast Asia. These films, however, could have been produced by Pathé, Nordisk Film, or other manufacturers.

Before World War I, distribution contracts of Nordisk Film were on a long-term basis: the distributor bought the rights for films for several years. The Nordisk Film contracts in the Danish archives are mostly from 1915 and later. A possible reason for the lack of contracts and systematic documentation of the distribution of films to Asia during earlier phases could be the profitability and the large quantity of exported films to other parts of the world during that period. Another reason early contracts with Asia are not found is that the Nordisk Film branches in Europe also exported films to other parts of the world. The Berlin branch sold films to Russia, Hungary, Switzerland, and China, and the London branch sold films to Brazil, Australia, Africa, and Singapore.52 In some rare cases, the headquarters in Copenhagen also sold individual films directly to smaller markets, such as Bangkok.53 The translation of intertitles to major languages was initially made at Nordisk Film’s copying lab in Copenhagen, but as the quality of the translations varied, Nordisk Film’s branches and agents became responsible.54

Nordisk Film’s distribution statistics can be juxtaposed with the trade of Denmark in Asia, as well as that of the Danish East Asiatic Company. Denmark exported

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.