A Study on the Origins of Cultural Films in Korea: A Focus on Films by the Japanese Government-General of Korea

Abstract

The term "cultural film" was coined in Korea under the Japanese rule, and it had been used as a general term for nonfiction films since the Korean liberation until the 1980s. However, unlike the term "documentary film," cultural film contains implications of propaganda film, controlled and produced as part of cultural and public relations policies of the government, thus it had been seldom studied for a long time. The term “cultural film” did not mean a film genre in the beginning. Therefore it is impossible to conceptualize the term based on common formats or contents of the films which have been called “cultural films.” Cultural films have been generally recognized as nonfiction films, and therefore documentary films. Yet in the production and distribution sites, fiction films and even animations were considered cultural films. In order to delve into the nature of cultural film, we have to reexamine the process in which the proper noun “Cultural Film” became a common noun. This paper attempts to explore the historical context in which the term “cultural film” was coined and used in the colonial Korea, when cultural films began to be produced. I examine the overall time period in which: 1) the concept of nonfiction film was first introduced in the Motion Picture Censorship Regulation, 2) the term “cultural film” became legally stipulated at a time when national policies were being established as Korea experienced the Manchurian Incident and the Sino-Japanese War, and 3) “cultural films” were screened mandatorily as “national films” that the nation had to foster through the Japan Film Law and Chosôn Film Act.

Keywords

• Cultural film
• Kulturfilm
• Documentary film
• Japan Film Law
• Chosôn Film Act
• The Motion Picture Unit of the Japanese Government-General