scholarly journals Images of Soviet Colonization in Archival Cinema: “Jews on the Earth” by Abram Room: The 1920s–30s

2021 ◽  
pp. 1051-1063
Author(s):  
Ivan A. Golovnev ◽  

At the turn of the 1930s, the Soviet film industry actively released documentary films about life of remote regions of the country, giving its audience an opportunity to make virtual trips across the “sixth part of the Earth.” This phenomenon had a political background: unification of leading creative and scientific forces for creation of the screen image of a multi-structured, multinational, and successfully developing socialist country within the frameworks of state project “Cinema Atlas of the USSR.” The article is to introduce into scientific use an archival documentary “Jews on the Earth” (1927) directed by Abram Room, a film telling about the state program for Jewish settlement of the northern Circum-Pontic region. The socio-political, cultural, and ideological context of its creation is analyzed. The study draws on little-known visual and textual archives, as well as on data of the Soviet periodicals and excerpts from the screenwriter V.B. Shklovsky’s theoretical heritage. Due to specifics of silent cinema, the film “Jews on the Earth” is a kind of cinematic text, consisting of approximately equal number of alternating film frames and text credits written by Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lily Brick. The film story is a sequence of episodes describing agrarization of the Jewish population, its “exodus” from the destroyed miasteczkos to the fertile southern lands. In the course of the research, it becomes obvious that this film is an example of the propaganda films describing the success of early Soviet colonization projects. The method used by Abram Room when working on the “Jews on the Earth” was a creative combination of the documentary and feature film techniques, allowing the film not just to convey dry information, but also to highlight socio-cultural context of the events. The film’s significance was in its contribution to the visual chronicle of the Soviet colonization and to the development of the myth of existence of the Jewish community in the USSR. It is concluded that this film, even overcoming the frameworks of purely propagandistic narration and becoming an outstanding phenomenon of cinematographic art, remains a significant example of the visual anthropology of the Soviet period, as well as a multilayered historical source that has not lost its relevance for modern scientific study.

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Patrick Mclaughlin

I argue that a strand of biblical tradition, represented in Genesis 1:26–29, depicts a nonviolent relationship between humans and nonhumans—indicated by the practice of vegetarianism—as a moral ideal that represents the divine intention for the Earth community. This argument is supported by four claims. First, the cultural context of Genesis 1 suggests that the “image of God” entails a democratized royal charge of all humans to make God present in a unique manner in the created order. Second, this functional role must be understood in light of the unique deity (Elohim) in Genesis 1, a deity whose peaceful and other-affirming creative act is distinctive from violent creative acts of deities in other ancient Near Eastern cosmologies such as the Enuma Elish. Third, Genesis 1 provides an exegesis of humanity's dominion over animals in verse 29, which limits humanity's food to vegetation. Finally, juxtaposing Genesis 1 with Genesis 9 reveals a nefarious shift from human dominion, which is meant to be peaceful and other-affirming, to something altogether different—a relationship that is built upon terror.


Author(s):  
N. G. Stezhko

The author analyses the specifics of writing a script for a television documentary drama (hereinafter referred to as docudrama), which combines the characteristics of the feature and documentary films. The article points out that many books have been written about the rules of scriptwriting for a feature film. However, there is no literature on the art of scriptwriting for a docudrama despite the fact that there are numerous docudramas being created worldwide. The opinion is given that the mastery of the docudrama scriptwriting is in choosing the most interesting and paradoxical moments in a hero’s life and showing his or her character through the resistance to life challenges: how the hero overcomes them, the motivation behind their actions and why a particular choice is being made. While in feature films the narrative is presented through action and actors’ performances, the article emphasises that docudramas explain the hero’s motivations through an additional figure such as an expert or co­participant in the events. While the difficult moments in the hero’s life and their overcoming are usually depicted through the staged episodes, an exploration into the hero’s character is supported by historical documents, a chronicle or other genuine historical sources. Docudrama is inherently narrative and the author investigates how the best practices of television journalism are used in scriptwriting, in addition to the cinema laws that are used in creating an image. The author explores the methodology of the docudrama scriptwriting in the project “Countdown” (“Vladimir Bokun’s Workshop”,Belarus) as an example.


Author(s):  
G. Bayrak

Features of changes of land cover and exogenous processes in a river basin of Poltva in connection with decreasing of the economic activities during the Post-Soviet period are considered. For researches the remote materials occurring at different times are used. Changes in agricultural and the forest use of the earth have caused in the majority stabilization exogenous processes. Changes aquicultural, urban and industrial human activities have caused activization of these processes in a river basin. Key words: changes of land cover, exogenous processes.


Author(s):  
Zinaida Strogalschikova

The paper presents ethnic and cultural development of Karelians, Finns and Vepsians of Karelia in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods against political background, including relations with Finland and the internal political situation in the USSR/ Russia and Karelia. The paper shows that the Karelian and Vepsian communities of 1990s were the main initiator and actor of all activities to revive their languages and cultures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-95
Author(s):  
Gražina Daunoravičienė

Against the background of the Lithuanian professional music modernisation over the late Soviet period through to the early 21st century, the study focuses on the theoretical-compositional system of dodecatonics by the most consistent Lithuanian modernist Osvaldas Balakauskas (b. 1937). Based on it, the conceptualisation of the composer’s creative process, the modern expression construing specificity, the socio-political and cultural context, and the aesthetic value will be revealed. By interpreting the process of modernisation from the viewpoint of parataxical comparativism, the relationship between the dodecatonics and other 20th century ­stheoretical-compositional systems as well as the theoretical tradition will be examined. The issues of individualisation of the 12-tone technique and the implementation of the principles of the Dodecatonics in Balakauskas’’ compositions will be discussed. The system is contextualised in the milieu of the inculcation of “formalistic” modernist doctrines in Lithuania and the USSR and of the updating of composing systems and the development of new ones.


Slovo ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol To the East of Pixar :... ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Vimenet

International audience Новый Гулливер (1935), первый черно-белый советскиймультипликационно-игровой фильм, режиссера Александра Птушко, не былдо сих пор предметом специального исследования. Нижеследующее являетсяего контекстуальным, биографическим, равно как и кинематографическим анализом. Творческий путь Птушко (1900-1973) дается в новом освещении, особенно 1920-30 годы, на которые приходится становление его кино.Осуществив постановку Это случилось на стадионе (1928) и Властелинбыта (1932), Птушко принял руководство секцией мультипликационногофильма на студии Совкино, ставшей Москинокомбинат, затем Мосфильм.Подробно рассматривается политико-культурный контекст, в период созданияего игрового фильма, между 1927 и 1935 годами, который сводит воедино всёмногообразие советского авангарда, но и является свидетелем торжествадогмы соцреализма. Фильм Птушко оказался восприимчив к теориям бурлескаоснователей Фабрики эксцентрического актера (ФЭКС). Превращениеперсонажей фильма Птушко в кукол-марионеток, символическое обыгрываниемасштабов могло зародиться в недрах этого движения. Но как сумел «НовыйГулливер», этот «фильм-сказка» обмануть политический контекст ипротивостоять сиренам соцреализма или отклониться от известныхшаблонных кодов? Птушко избирает философскую повесть, усугубленнуюполитическим памфлетом, что дает ему законное основание привязать чудесноек политическому. Смелая экранизация Свифта, московский дорогостоящийкинофильм, с его полуторатысячей шарнирных кукол, сотнями пластилиновыхфигурок, их сочетание с игровым кино, и два десятка массовых сцен претендуетна соперничество с «Кинг Конгом». Своим остроумием и развлекательностьюфильм Птушко вызывал восхищение Чарли Чаплина. Данное исследованиепрепарирует аллегорию – держащий каркас фильма, и стремитсяидентифицировать в кинопостановке всё то, в чем отголоском дают о себе знатьсоветские времена. И когда оказывается, что гимн лиллипутов, это воспеваниеотвратительного монархизма, жутковатым образом предвосхищает ОдуСталину 1939 года, то совершенно внятно становится, что Новый Гулливерне столько выставляет на показ всепобедительность homo sovieticus, сколькоделает из истории опасный аттракцион падений и взлетов и внедряет в неёсубверсивное понятие ухронии. The New Gulliver (1935), the first black and white Soviet animatedfeature film directed by Alexander Ptusko, has not been the subject of a specific studyso far. The following is contextual, biographical, as well as filmic analysis. It offers anew light on the route of Ptusko (1900-1973), especially on the 1920-1930 whichsees emerge his cinema. After having realized It Arrived at the Stadium (1928)and The Master of Everyday Life (1932), Ptusko took the lead of the section of theanimated film of the Sovkino studios become Moskinokombinat, then Mosfilm. Thepolitico-cultural context of the emergence of his feature film, 1927 and 1935, whichbrings together all the diversity of the Soviet avant-garde but sees the triumph of thedogma of socialist realism, is examined at length. Ptusko’s film seems receptive to theburlesque theories of the founders of the FEKS. The puppetisation of the characters inPtusko’s film, the symbolic games of scale, may have originated in this movement. Buthow could The New Gulliver, this « film-tale », have imposed itself in the politicalcontext and resist the realistic socialist sirens or divert certain codes? Ptusko choosesa philosophical tale doubled by a political pamphlet that authorizes him to link themarvelous to the political. An audacious adaptation of Swift, a Muscovite spectacular,The New Gulliver aims to compete, with its 1 500 puppets articulated, hundreds ofplastic figurines, their combination to the real shot and its 20 sets, with King Kong.Ptusko’s film provokes Chaplin’s admiration for his facetiousness. The study dissects theallegory that structures the film and seeks to identify in the staging of everything thatechoes the Soviet present. And when it appears that the Lilliputian hymn, the songof the hated kingship, anticipates in an unsettling way The Ode to Stalin of 1939, itbecomes certain that The New Gulliver, more than to demonstrate the invincibility ofthe homo sovieticus, transforms the history in a roller coaster and makes penetrate theexplosive concept of uchronia. Le Nouveau Gulliver (1935), premier long métrage d’animationsoviétique noir et blanc, réalisé par Aleksandr Ptouchko, n’a pas fait l’objetd’études spécifiques jusqu’ici. Celle qui suit est contextuelle, biographique, toutautant qu’analyse filmique. Elle propose un nouvel éclairage sur l’itinéraire dePtouchko (1900-1973), particulièrement sur les années 1920-1930 qui voitémerger son cinéma. Après avoir réalisé C’est arrivé au stade (1928) et Le Maîtredu quotidien (1932), Ptouchko prend la tête de la section du film animé des studiosSovkino devenus Moskinokombinat, puis Mosfilm. Le contexte politico-cultureld’émergence de son long métrage, entre 1927 et 1935, qui met en présence toutela diversité de l’avant-garde soviétique mais voit triompher le dogme du réalismesocialiste, est longuement examiné. Le film de Ptouchko semble réceptif aux théoriesburlesques des fondateurs de la FEKS. La marionnettisation des personnages dufilm de Ptouchko, les jeux symboliques d’échelle ont peut-être pris leur sourcedans ce mouvement. Mais comment Le Nouveau Gulliver, ce « ciné-conte », a-t-ilpu s’imposer dans le contexte politique et résister aux sirènes réalistes socialistesou en détourner certains codes ? Ptouchko choisit un conte philosophiquedoublé d’un pamphlet politique qui l’autorise à lier le merveilleux au politique.Audacieuse adaptation de Swift, superproduction moscovite, Le Nouveau Gulliverambitionne de rivaliser, avec ses 1 500 marionnettes articulées, ses centaines defigurines en plastiline, leur combinaison à la prise de vue réelle et ses vingt décors,avec King-Kong. Le film de Ptouchko provoque l’admiration de Chaplin, quien apprécie l’esprit facétieux. L’étude dissèque l’allégorie qui structure le film ets’attache à repérer dans la mise en scène tout ce qui fait écho au présent soviétique.Et quand il apparaît que l’hymne lilliputien, chant de la royauté honnie, anticipede manière troublante L’Ode à Staline de 1939, il devient certain que Le NouveauGulliver, plus que de démontrer l’invincibilité de l’homo sovieticus, transformel’histoire en montagnes russes et y fait pénétrer le concept explosif de l’uchronie.


Author(s):  
Bryan Turnock

Aimed at teachers and students new to the subject, this book is a comprehensive survey of the genre from silent cinema to its twenty-first century resurgence. Structured as a series of thirteen case studies of easily accessible films, it covers the historical, production, and cultural context of each film, together with detailed textual analysis of key sequences. Sitting alongside such acknowledged classics as Psycho and Rosemary's Baby are analyses of influential non-English language films as Kwaidan, Bay of Blood, and Let the Right One In. The book concludes with a chapter on 2017's blockbuster It, the most financially successful horror film of all time, making this book the most up-to-date overview of the genre available.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1-Feb) ◽  
pp. 185-190
Author(s):  
Shabnum Mukhtar

After the independence of India in 1947, it got divided into two territories of India and Pakistan. Kashmir, which was a princely ruled state at that time, was in a state of confusion whether it should accede to India or Pakistan or stay sovereign. Hari Singh, the then Maharaja of Kashmir, felt it better to accede with India than Pakistan and signed the instrument of accession with India. The government of Pakistan resisted this accession as they were keen to add this region to their territory and thus started the Kashmir conflict. India and Pakistan have fought for more than seventy years over Kashmir. Wars over Kashmir resulted in eleven United Nations resolutions and two peace agreements, but the problem of Kashmir remained unsolved. For more than seventy years, India and Pakistan have driven a cycle of violence, retaliation, and exploitation in Kashmir, and this dispute over Kashmir has caused at least forty-seven thousand deaths and made Kashmir one of the most militarized1 regions of the earth and is still a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Kashmiris have roused many times against oppression, tyranny, and occupation. There are umpteen historical documents of earlier times, where they have challenged numerous rulers for their ugly behavior, right from 1585, at the onset of the Mughal rule.This paper deals with the origin of the Kashmir conflict and historical and political background, and its effect on India and Pakistan.


Lituanistica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irma Šidiškienė

Each organization fosters its own culture that is established, maintained and redeveloped in formal and informal social relations among co-workers; however, these are also influenced by the broader cultural environment in which a given organization exists. The question raised in this article is how the context of urban culture is reflected in the community of colleagues. We suppose that it is during such informal gatherings or during leisure time, when they can communicate more freely, and celebrate or mark various occasions that the social and cultural context of co-workers becomes apparent. The article aims to compare cultural expressions in co-workers’ communities among the inhabitants of Vilnius and Sofia by revealing the place of Soviet-period and current celebrations among co-workers. It also aims to show how an employee experiences his or her personal life cycle in a coworker’s environment, including (1) work-related personal events as the first salary, marking the length of service, retirement, and family-related events such as birthdays, weddings, and funerals, and (2) official holidays (public holidays, religious and other calendar feasts, commemorations of important dates, and other celebrations significant for the public). The study showed that the civil rites created in the Soviet era to promote coworkers’ participation were integrated into the culture of the urban people, by (1) transferring traditions of folk communities into the urban environment and in this way developing urban communities, and (2) allowing indirect control of the introduction of new holidays into the family environment. Comparing the expression of the cultural environment in coworkers’ gatherings among the inhabitants of Vilnius and those of Sofia, a difference was observed between the co-workers with regard to the family life cycle: in Sofia, coworkers very seldom socialize during funerals and only to some extent on the occasion of weddings, while the birth of a child is often marked in absentia, that is with the mother and the child absent. Meanwhile, the coworkers in Vilnius have always celebrated these occasions since the 1970s. As for the official holidays at the state level, Bulgarians, unlike Lithuanians, in Soviet times mentioned May 1 and national celebrations such as the Revival Leaders Day, the Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, and Baba Marta (Martenitsa), an informal one. This is apparently the reason why currently official celebrations enjoy greater popularity among coworkers in Sofia than among their counterparts in Vilnius. The first comparative studies of these cities show that a country’s official cultural policy influences the cultural expression of coworkers (and citizens in general): formal cultural expression is affected directly, and informal is influenced to some extent. When the end of the Soviet era heralded a new cultural policy, the intensity and intentions of formal holiday celebrations changed, but the character of informal celebrations remained more or less the same.


2019 ◽  
pp. 129-136
Author(s):  
David MacDougall

The anthropologist George Marcus has written that cinema helped to inspire the use of montage-like juxtapositions in ethnographic texts. In this chapter, the author argues that the emergence of a cinematic imagination, which imagines the world constructed around the viewer, had more effect on anthropological writing than the presence of films themselves. Concern about how the construction of documentary films represents reality also probably preceded similar concerns by anthropologists about the writing of anthropological texts. In the 19th and early 20th century, anthropologists conceived of images as a source of knowledge, but this waned as they turned to less visible aspects of culture. Interest in visual anthropology only revived after the Second World War with the work of Jean Rouch and John Marshall, the first of whom pioneered a form of intense, immersive cinema, and the second who employed filming and editing strategies that placed the viewer imaginatively within the three-dimensional field of the scenes filmed. This tended to counteract the perceptual and conceptual ‘flatness’ of earlier representations of culture. Malinowski’s and Evans-Pritchard's writing had contributed to a more immediate and rounded view, but ethnographic cinema confirmed it, making a significant contribution to anthropology as a whole.


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