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The Berlin-Tokyo Film Axis And A Troubled Co-Production: The Makers Of New Earth/The Samurai's Daughter (1937), Qinna Shen

German Faculty Research and Scholarship

Co-productions are often notoriously difficult, and this was certainly the case in 1936–37 for the most important co-production between Nazi Germany and Japan. What should have been one joint film for the international market turned out to be two different versions: New Earth in Japanese and English by Itami Mansaku and The Samurai’s Daughter in German and Japanese by Arnold Fanck. This article focuses on three filmmakers – producer Kawakita Nagamasa and the directors Fanck and Itami – to better understand the production and reception of the films and what led to the split between the directors. The push for …