Our Construction
Still from the film. Shows the Flag of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea, which is extremely similar to the current Flag of South Korea.
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
우리의 건설
Hancha
우리의 建設
Revised RomanizationUriui geonseol
McCune–ReischauerUriŭi kŏnsŏl
Color processBlack-and-white
Release date
  • 1 July 1946 (1946-07-01)
CountryNorth Korea
LanguageKorean
Budget100,000 won

Our Construction (Korean: 우리의 건설) is a North Korean documentary that was created in 1946. It is widely considered to be the first North Korean film, and predates the 1949 My Home Village, which was the first feature film in the country.[1] It is a silent and black-and-white film.

It was filmed with a single camera and consists of three parts that each cover an event from the first half of 1946. The first part commemorates the 27th anniversary of the March 1st Movement, the second part covers International Workers' Day celebrations on 1 May, and the third covers repairs to infrastructure of the Pothong River in Pyongyang.

Contents

The film is silent and black-and-white, and consists of three parts.[2][3][4] The first part focuses on the 1946 anniversary celebration of the March 1st Movement, and shows citizens marching with banners that read, "Land for the farmers who till its soil".[lower-alpha 1] The second part focuses on 1 May International Workers' Day celebrations, and shows peasants rejoicing at land redistribution programs and marching together. The third part focuses on repairs to flood-prevention infrastructure of the Pothong River in Pyongyang. It shows a groundbreaking ceremony, in which Kim Il Sung shovels the first clump of dirt.[2]

Production

Context

Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was a colony of the Empire of Japan. In 1919, protests against Japanese rule were held throughout Korea, in what became known as the March 1st Movement. The protests were brutally suppressed by the Japanese, resulting in thousands of deaths, and were ultimately unsuccessful in the short term. However, the Movement became a catalyst and symbol for the Korean independence movement.[5]

After the end of World War II in 1945, Kim Il Sung became leader of the Soviet-backed Provisional People's Committee of North Korea in February 1946.[6] Shortly afterwards, the North Korean government encouraged the creation of films that forwarded ideas of anti-imperialism, anti-feudalism, and democracy.[5][1] They also wanted the films to focus on working-class people, such as factory workers and peasants.[1][2]

Creation

According to recent articles by the North Korean government-supported DPRK Today and Kim Il Sung University, in February 1946, Kim Il Sung tasked a worker with creating the film.[3]

According to an interview in the South Korean Monthly Chosun with Jeong Chu,[lower-alpha 2] Jeong's eldest brother Jeong Jun-chae went to North Korea from Seoul with a single German camera in February 1946, planning to film celebrations of the March 1st Movement, International Women's Day (8 March), and International Workers' Day (1 May).[lower-alpha 3] He started a film studio in a former sock factory in the Taedong County area of Pyongyang, and requested support for his work from Kim Chang-man,[lower-alpha 4] the head of propaganda for the Workers' Party of North Korea. Jeong received that support and also approval from Kim Il Sung. Jeong Jun-chae then played a pivotal role in the creation of some of North Korea's earliest films, including Our Construction.[6]

The film was created by the film department of the Workers' Party, which was the predecessor to the 1947 Korean Art Film Studio and the Korean Documentary Science Studio.[2][7][8][lower-alpha 5] The department initially had only around five members and a single camera, making the task difficult. They created the film with that camera and a departmental budget of 100,000 won.[2][3] The film was originally planned and shot as three independent films, but under the instruction of Kim Il Sung, the three films were merged into one.[2]

Release

According to a 2019 DPRK Today article and Kim Il Sung University, the film was released in late July 1946.[3][9] According to another DPRK Today article from 2018 and the South Korean researcher Lee Chun-gil, the film was released on 1 July 1946, the same day that the Korean Documentary Studio later set as its founding date.[4][7]

According to the DPRK Today, Kim Il Sung himself attended the first screening. The public was reportedly greatly interested in the film, despite it being silent.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ 『토지는 밭갈이 하는 농민에게』
  2. ↑ 정추; 鄭樞
  3. ↑ 정준채
  4. ↑ 김창만
  5. ↑ 조선예술영화촬영소; 朝鮮藝術攝影所

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lee (2000), pp. 34–36.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "우리의건설 (우리의建設)" [Our Construction], Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean), retrieved 23 May 2023
  3. 1 2 3 4 "새 조선의 첫 기록영화 《우리의 건설》" [The New Korea's First Documentary: "Our Construction"], DPRK Today (in Korean), 3 January 2019, retrieved 23 May 2023
  4. 1 2 3 "조선기록과학영화촬영소가 걸어온 영광의 행로 (1)" [On the Path of the Korea Documentary Science Film Studio #1], DPRK Today (in Korean), 24 November 2018, retrieved 29 May 2023
  5. 1 2 Robinson (2007), pp. 32–35.
  6. 1 2 Bae, Jin-yeong (September 2010), "김일성 반대는 예술인의 양심에서 출발한 것" ["Opposition to Kim Il Sung came from the artist's conscience"], Monthly Chosun Ilbo (in Korean)
  7. 1 2 Lee (1997), pp. 138–140.
  8. ↑ Lee, Myeong-ja, "조선예술영화촬영소 (朝鮮藝術映畵撮影所)" [Korean Art Film Studio], Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean), retrieved 23 May 2023
  9. ↑ Pang, Ch'ŏl-chin (6 April 2023), 새 조선의 첫 기록영화 《우리의 건설》 [The New Korea's First Documentary: "Our Construction"] (in Korean), Kim Il Sung University, retrieved 24 May 2023

Sources

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