Issue 3 (68)
| VISUALIZATION OF ETHNICITY IN SOVIET CINEMA: “SALT FOR SVANETIA” BY MIKHAIL KALATOZOV | |||
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| Year | 2020 | Number | 3(68) |
| Pages | 35-44 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 94(470)"1920/1930":791.3 | BBK | 63(2)6-7+85.37 |
| Authors | Golovnev Ivan A. |
Topic | VISUALIZING ETHNICITY |
| Summary | The political revolution of 1917 in Russia was continued in all spheres of life of the country of the Soviets, including the 1920s’ cultural revolution. A significant role in these processes was played by nationalized cinema, as a means of mass media and agitation. At the turn of the 1920–1930s the Soviet film industry actively released educational films on the life of remote regions of the country, opening the viewers the opportunity to make virtual film trips around the multistructure and multinational Soviet Union. Despite the difference in the creative methods of their authors, these film works were built on a single scenario matrix, telling about “primitive communism” and the transition to socialism among ethnic groups. The article, based on the example of the documentary film “Salt for Svanetia” (1930) by Mikhail Kalatozov, a classic of Soviet cinema, reviews the experience of creating a poetic film-construct on the ethnographic materials. Analyzing the original visual document, published materials of the participants of the creative process and the contemporaries’ testimonies, the author of the article traces the implementation of the film project in connection with parallel processes in Soviet culture and politics. Attention is drawn to using the capabilities of cinema as an effective resource for creating and broadcasting screen images: traditional culture as a “dark past” and socialist innovations as a “bright future”. The conclusion is drawn about the potential of the film as a multicomponent historical source, reflecting the silhouettes of its time. | ||
| Keywords | visualization of ethnicity, ethnographic film, Mikhail Kalatozov, USSR | ||
| References |
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