NFAJ: 2022 Winter Collection

ACROSS THE EQUATOR

Life on Board as Japan Plans Southward Expansion

Venue(s): National Film Archive of Japan
Feb. 20 to Feb. 26, 2022
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: www.nfaj.go.jp/exhibition/japanese1990s202201/#section1-1
 Theater website: www.nfaj.go.jp/english/visit/access/
 Tariff: General: ¥520, Student/Senior: ¥310
Advance tickets: ¥520+¥110 for service fee, buy advanced ticket at Pia site [P code: 551-911]

Title: NFAJコレクション 2022 冬 (NFAJ Collection 2022 Fuyu)
Director: Eiji Tsuburaya (円谷英二)
Duration: 86 min

The 120th anniversary celebration of Eiji Tsuburaya’s birth continues at the National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) and we’re finally able to announce another English-subtitled screening as part of the lineup: a 1936 feature documentary made for the Ministry of the Navy, Across the Equator. Tsuburaya would of course become known later as the father of Japanese special effects, and make indelible contributions to Godzilla (1954) and the Ultraman (1966) franchise. But he began as a cameraman, and he both shot and directed this national policy film, a fascinating look at Japan’s prewar stance toward countries in the Pacific.

Across the Equator reveals another side of the director’s skills, as he sailed with and documented the the navy’s training fleet for six months on a journey to Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Java (Dutch East Indies), Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. The film captures life on board, as well as introducing “folklore through sound” performances in the countries they visited.

The print at NFAJ was restored by combining a dupe negative made from a film returned from the Library of Congress and the original combustible sound negative that was later found in Japan.

NFAJ and Sukagawa City, with cooperation from Tsuburaya Productions, have been celebrating the master’s enduring legacy with a comprehensive overview of his 50-year career, during which he provided thrilling tokusatsu special effects on approximately 250 films, as well as shooting, producing and even directing a slew more.

ACROSS THE EQUATOR
Feb. 20, 2022 (Sun) 12:00
Feb. 26, 2022 (Sat) 15:20

Across the Equator, 赤道越えて dir. Eiji Tsuburaya
1936, 86min, 35mm, BW

National Film Archive of Japan

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