Collaborating with Japanese in Making Entertainment Movies for Chinese Viewers: Chinese Filmmakers at Manchurian Film Association

Abstract

The article studies the experiences of Chinese filmmakers who collaborated with Japanese film specialists at Manchurian Film Association (Manying 1937–45) to make entertainment movies primarily for Chinese viewers in Manchukuo. Chinese filmmakers were neither entirely innocent nor solely complicit in their participation in Manying. Most collaborated with Japanese in making entertainment movies without sharing Japanese colonial ideology. They were not victims, but survivors who made choices based on their best interests. They negotiated with Manying to meet their normal human needs of making a livelihood, getting married, and finding satisfaction in their crafts. They acquired cinema expertise, accumulated professional experiences, and developed social networks that later served them. They made diverse choices under Japanese colonial rule— some left Manying and Manchukuo, others stayed for practical reasons, still others adopted covert resistance. A few sympathized with Japanese rule, and another few resisted at the risk of their freedom or lives.