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1949

Bolivia

– Donde Nació un Imperio, the country’s first colour film, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Botswana

25/8 -

British Movietone Newsreels first relate the story of Ruth Williams, the white British girl who married African prince Seretse Khama.   Their story becomes the improbable basis for Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). [MORE] [ADD]

China

31/3 -

In Peking, the People's Liberation Army sets up a Cinema Board managed by Mu-jih Yuan, who has been head of the army's cinematographic section since 1938. [MORE] [ADD]

– The Shanghai Film Studio and the Beijing Film Studio are both founded.  [MORE] [ADD]

Denmark

25/11 -

25% of entertainments tax revenue (60% of box office receipts) from the exhibition of Danish films is now paid to the films’ producers. [MORE] [ADD]

Ecuador

– Alberto Sanatana’s Se Conocieron en Guayaquil is released by Ecuador Sono Films.   It is the first feature film produced in Ecuador. [MORE] [ADD]

Germany

Spring -

Arthur Brauner’s CCC Production company is awarded the licence it requires to begin production. [MORE] [ADD]

Apr -

Veit Harlan, the director of the notorious Nazi film Jud Süß, is found not guilty of crimes against humanity by the Hamburg district court. [MORE] [ADD]

15/7 -

Allied control of German film production is replaced by a production code based on the American one. [MORE] [ADD]

18/7 -

The Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK - Voluntary Censorship of the German Film Industry) starts operating in Wiesbaden. [MORE] [ADD]

Sep -

The British and American military governments pass the Lex Ufi divestiture legislation which places Reich film assets under the administration of trustees until it can be auctioned off.   It also orders the dissolution of UFA. [MORE] [ADD]

Gold Coast

– Following a report written by John Grierson for UNESCO, the Colonial Film Unit establishes a film school in Accra. [MORE] [ADD]

Iceland

13/1 -

Loftur Gudmundsson’s Milli Fjalls og Fjöru (From the Mountain to the Seashore), the first Icelandic feature film with sound, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

India

30/6 -

The government revives the compulsory exhibition of ‘approved’ documentary films and newsreels. [MORE] [ADD]

– Khwaja Ahmad Abbas’ Dharti Ke Lal (1946) becomes the first Indian film to be distributed in the USSR. [MORE] [ADD]

– Because of modifications to the Cinematograph Act, entertainment tax goes up to 50%.   In West Bengal it is as high as 75%.  [MORE] [ADD]

– In Bombay, Dev Anand and Chetan Anand establish Navketan Productions.  [MORE] [ADD]

– New censorship classifications of ‘Adult’ and ‘Unrestricted’ are introduced.  [MORE] [ADD]

– The Film Enquiry Committee is established under the chairmanship of S. K. Patil.  [MORE] [ADD]

Italy

4/4 -

Roberto Rossellini begins location shooting on the volcanic island of Stromboli, off the straits of Messina with the cast of Stromboli, which includes Ingrid Bergman and non-actor Mario Vitale. [MORE] [ADD]

18/6 -

Abel Gance and producer Georges de la Grandière are given a private audience by Pope Pius XII at the Vatican to discuss The Divine Tragedy, their proposed film on the life of Christ. [MORE] [ADD]

26/7 -

The Andreotti Act, a law initiated by Giulio Andreotti, is passed.   The law taxes film imports to support domestic production; it both increases subsidies and strengthens government control over film censorship. [MORE] [ADD]

21/9 -

Giuseppe De Santis’ Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice) is released.   The film stars the voluptuous 19-year-old Silvana Mangano. [MORE] [ADD]

26/10 -

Pier Paulo Pasolini is expelled from the Italian Communist Party for ‘morally and politically unacceptable behaviour’ after the party receive a police report revealing his homosexuality. [MORE] [ADD]

22/12 -

La Rosa di Bagdad, Italy’s first animated feature, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

29/12 -

A new quota law comes into effect: cinemas must screen Italian films for a minimum of 80 days a year.   To avoid a proliferation of poor-quality quota quickies, the films must be quality-approved by a quota council.   Qualifying films earn a subsidy of 10% of their gross revenue for five years, while films considered to be of artistic merit receive a further 8%. [MORE] [ADD]

Japan

– Control of the film industry is handed over to the Independent Motion Picture Code Committee, signalling a return of sword-wielding jidai-geki films.  [MORE] [ADD]

South Korea

– A Woman’s Diary, Koreas first colour film, is released.   It is directed by Hong Seong-gi. [MORE] [ADD]

Lithuania

– The Lithuanian Republican Newsreel Studio is transferred to Vilnius.  [MORE] [ADD]

Macedonia

– Vardar Film continues to produce a number of documentary films, notably Trajche Popov’s The First Congress of the Communist Party of Macedonia, and Blagoja Drnkov’s 11^th of October. [MORE] [ADD]

– The Kinotehnika is founded with government backing to maintain cinematographic equipment of production and distribution companies and to produce spare parts for projectors. [MORE] [ADD]

Mexico

25/11 -

Luis Bunuel’s second Mexican film, El Gran Calavera, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

20/12 -

A law is introduced to protect the domestic cinema industry by limiting the number of films imported into the country. [MORE] [ADD]

Myanmar

– Filmmakers capture scenes from the battle for Insein, when Rangoon is under siege from Karen rebels. [MORE] [ADD]

Norway

– Edith Carlmar’s Døden er et kjærtegn, the first Norwegian film directed by a woman, is released. [MORE] [ADD] 

– The Association of Norwegian Cinema Managers is founded. [MORE] [ADD]

– The National Association of Norwegian Cinema Technicians is founded. [MORE] [ADD]

Pakistan

8/3 -

Nazir’s musical Pheray is released and goes on to become the first Pakistani film to complete a 25-week run at cinemas. [MORE] [ADD]

Puerto Rico

– Law 372 permits government financing of films with artistic value.  [MORE] [ADD]

South Africa

– Donald Swanson and Eric Rutherford’s Jim Comes to Joburg (AKA African Jim) is released.   Its opening title reads, “The first full length entertainment film to be made in South Africa with an all native cast. It is a simple film and its quaint mixture of the naïve and the sophisticated is a true reflection of the African native in a modern city”. [MORE] [ADD]

– Pierre De Wet’s Kom saam, vanaand, the country’s first feature-length musical, is released.  [MORE] [ADD]

Sudan

– The government employs a South African to establish a cinematographic section of the department of Public Relations,   He is assisted by two young Sudanese, Kamal Mohammad Ibrahim and Gadalla Gubara.  [MORE] [ADD]

Sweden

– Ingmar Bergman’s Torst (Thirst), starring Eva Henning and Birger Malmsten, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Taiwan

– Taiwanese cinema enjoys the start of a period of growth as filmmakers sympathetic to the defeated Chinese Nationalists move to the country.  [MORE] [ADD]

Thailand

– The Asawin Papayan (Asawin Film Company) is established by Prince Panupan Yukon. [MORE] [ADD]

Turkey

– Lutfi Akad’s debut film, Vurun kahpeye (Strike the Whore) is released. [MORE] [ADD]