''Our Construction'' () is a 1946 North Korean documentary. It is widely considered to be the first North Korean film, and predates the 1949 '' My Home Village'', which was the first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

in the country. It is a silent and

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

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 International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

celebrations on 1 May, and the third covers repairs to infrastructure of the Pothong River in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

The film is silent and black-and-white, and consists of three parts. 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" (). 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.

Production

Context

Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was a colony of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

. 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. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945,

Kim Il Sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

became leader of the Soviet-backed Provisional People's Committee of North Korea in February 1946. Shortly afterwards, the North Korean government encouraged the creation of films that forwarded ideas of

anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

, anti-feudalism, and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. They also wanted the films to focus on working-class people, such as factory workers and peasants.

Creation

According to recent articles by the North Korean government-supported DPRK Today and

Kim Il Sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

, in February 1946, Kim Il Sung tasked a worker with creating the film. According to an interview in the South Korean ''

Monthly Chosun The ''Monthly Chosun'' () is a monthly Korean-language magazine published in South Korea. , it is owned by Chosun News Press, which is owned by ChosunMedia. ChosunMedia also owns the ''Chosun Ilbo''. Description It primarily publishes on ...

'' with Jeong Chu (), 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 International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

(8 March), and International Workers' Day (1 May). 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 (), the head of propaganda for the

Workers' Party of North Korea The Workers' Party of North Korea () was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch ...

. 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''. 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 . 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 Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

. 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.

Release

According to a 2019 DPRK Today article and Kim Il Sung University, the film was released in late July 1946. 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. 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.

References

Sources