Soviet Cinematography 1918 1991

With a historical sweep that recent events have made definitive, the authors examine the influence of official ideology on the presentation of social reality by Soviet cinema. The order of the study follows the chronology of the social history of the Soviet Union, from the October Revolution to the final days of glasnost. Within the framework of an introduction that lays out the conceptual terminology used to describe that shifting ideological landscape, the authors analyze both the social groups appearing in the films and the relations of film directors and other film makers to state censorship and ideological control. For film students used to the aesthetic categories and philosophical assumptions of the West, the Shlapentokhs' book will provide a compelling new perspective. With its vast array of hard-to-obtain source materials, this is a much-needed reference work for anyone interested in Soviet film making.

With a historical sweep that recent events have made definitive, the authors examine the influence of Soviet ideology on the presentation of social reality in films produced in the Soviet Union between the October Revolution and the final days of glasnost. Within the framework of an introduction that lays out the conceptual terminology used to describe that shifting ideological landscape, the authors analyze both the social groups appearing in the films and the relations of film directors and other film makers to state censorship and ideological control.

The golden age of Soviet cinema, in the years following the Russian Revolution, was a time of both achievement and contradiction, as reflected in the films of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and Kuleshov. Tensions ran high between creative freedom and institutional constraint, radical and reactionary impulses, popular and intellectual cinema, and film as social propaganda and as personal artistic expression. In less than a decade, the creative ferment ended, subjugated by the ideological forces that accompanied the rise of Joseph Stalin and the imposition of the doctrine of Socialist Realism on all the arts. Soviet Cinema in the Silent Era, 1918–1935 records this lost golden age. Denise Youngblood considers the social, economic, and industrial factors that influenced the work of both lesser-known and celebrated directors. She reviews all major and many minor films of the period, as well as contemporary film criticism from Soviet film journals and trade magazines. Above all, she captures Soviet film in a role it never regained—that of dynamic artform of the proletarian masses.

The key question asked in this book is, how did Stalinist war cinema present Soviet women's resistance against the Nazi forces during World War II? This book challenges those scholarly works which support the idea of the compatibility of femininity and combat under Stalinism. Despite the Soviet regime’s claim of being opposed to any religious heritage, this book reveals how Stalinist cinema drew on Russian religious tradition and culture in the creation of cinematic representations of Soviet women during WWII. Further, the book shows how the adoption of Russian cultural and religious heritage in Soviet war cinema served Stalinist collective identity-construction policies and state-citizen relations. In so doing, this study contributes to a range of fields within Russian and Soviet studies, including gender studies, cinema studies, Soviet modernity, and the study of identity-construction and state-nation relations. Whilst this book is aimed at researchers and academics, it provides a supplementary source for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Soviet/Russian studies.

A New History of Documentary Film includes new research that offers a fresh way to understand how the field began and grew. Retaining the original edition's core structure, there is added emphasis of the interplay among various approaches to documentaries and the people who made them. This edition also clearly explains the ways that interactions among the shifting forces of economics, technology, and artistry shape the form. New to this edition: - An additional chapter that brings the story of English language documentary to the present day - Increased coverage of women and people of color in documentary production - Streaming - Black Lives Matter - Animated documentaries - List of documentary filmmakers, organized chronologically by the years of their activity in the field

How can we understand the history of film? Historical facts don’t answer the basic questions of film history. History, as this fascinating book shows, is more than the simple accumulation of film titles, facts and figures. This is a survey of over 100 years of cinema history, from its beginnings in 1895, to its current state in the 21st century. An accessible, introductory text, Movie History: A Survey looks at not only the major films, filmmakers, and cinema institutions throughout the years, but also extends to the production, distribution, exhibition, technology and reception of films. The textbook is divided chronologically into four sections, using the timeline of technological changes Written by two highly respected film scholars and experienced teachers, Movie History is the ideal textbook for students studying film history.

Although seen widely as the twentieth-century's great religious war, as a conflict between the god-fearing and the godless, the religious dimension of the Cold War has never been subjected to a scholarly critique. This unique study shows why religion is a key Cold War variable. A specially commissioned collection of new scholarship, it provides fresh insights into the complex nature of the Cold War. It has profound resonance today with the resurgence of religion as a political force in global society.