Forward Soviet!: History and Non-fiction Film in the USSR

by Graham Roberts, Birgit Beumers (Editor), Lilya Kaganovsky (Editor)

Overview

This is an account of Soviet documentary output during the years between the "Great October Socialist Revolution" and the "Great Patriotic War". Graeme Roberts re-views the examples of Soviet, and world, non-fiction cinema, like "The Man With the Movie Camera" and "The Fall of the Romanovs", and uncovers many intriguing films. He discusses the careers of the men and women who made them, including Vertov, Shub, Medvedkin and Karmen, and investigates the problems of analysis and context, offering insights into that context. The text demonstrates how, through looking as the history of Soviet non-fiction film, it becomes possible to gain insight into the agencies that shaped Soviet culture and history under Stalinist regime into and beyond the 1930s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781860642821
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/31/1999
Series:	KINO - The Russian and Soviet Cinema
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Graham Roberts is Lecturer in Communications Arts, University of Leeds.

Table of Contents

Russian and Soviet unplayed film, 1898-1922; Vertov and the cine-eye; Esfir Shub and the great way forward; beyond the cine-eye; the impact of sound and "documentalism"; from realism to "realpolitik"; the not so strange death of Soviet documentary.

Editorial Reviews

Argues that historical and non-fiction films during the entire Soviet period tried to portray and mythologize the history and development of the regime. Assesses the part played by documentaries, newsreels, and similar genres in the growth of Soviet cinema as a whole, including their influence on the aesthetics of fiction films. Also explores how the films were organized, produced, and received by audiences and how those elements reflected the drives and tensions that helped create the USSR. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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