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In 2008 The State Film Archive marks its 60th birthday. The present from of the national film archive is the result of the long-term near work of several generations of Russian art critics and film-makers. The collectors of the anniversary issue set a goal to introduce under one cover the history of the archive and the new researches therein.
FROM THE STATE FILM ARCHIVE HISTORY
The history of the State Film Archive: directors and documents (1936–1948)
The chronicle of the archive’s evolution from its foundation to the present day. Every new period in the evolution is connected with the activity of a certain archive director. And there are several of them in the archive history. The first part of the article tells about the history of the All-Union archive that was State Film Archive’s predecessor.
FILMOGRAPHY
The filmography of the foreign films in Russia, 1907–1913. Соmpiler M. Iordanskiy. (Part 1: 1907–1908)
The history of interaction between national cinemas should be traced according to the history of foreign film distribution in a certain country. The catalogues of American, German and French silent films in Soviet distribution of 1920s were published in the State Film Archives newsletter. The lists of films that were distributed in Russia before the First World War are kept in the archive. This filmography was compiled in 1939 by Mikhail Iordanskiy.
Georgiy AVENARIUS. A course in filmography. — The review of Georges Sadoul’s «L’Histoire générale du cinéma»
Georgiy Avenarius (1903–1958) was one of the most legendary employees of the film archive. He started his work in cinema as an actor and cameraman. In the mid-1930s he became a film critic. The published extract of the course in filmography for VGIK students is dated 1948 — it is the same year when Avenarius began to work in Belye Stolby. Avenarius edited the Russian version of Georges Sadoul’s book. In his review he references to some factual errors of Sadoul’s work.
CINEMA: LIFE AND ADVENTURES
Vera KHANZHONKOVA. Autobiography
When the Film Archive was founded in 1948 Vera Khanzhonkova, wife of Alexander Khanzhonkov, was invited to the archive to work as an editor. Previously she was an editor in Khanzhonkov Studio and this time she was asked to sort and identify the early Russian films. By virtue of her unique memory a lot of films were restored and brought to life. In a certain sense her own biography is an thrilling film plot…
Aleksey ZHELYABUZHSKIY. In the preceding years
Vera Khanzhonkova published the autobiography of Yuri Zhelyabuzhskiy, director and director of photography, in the 4th issue of «Cinema and time» newsletter (1965, pp. 151–196). This article tells the biography of his less known cousin Aleksey Zhelyabuzhskiy, actor, director and playwrighter. This article was kept in the library of Veniamin Vishevskiy (1898–1952), one of the most respected historians and annalists of the Russian cinema, who worked in the State Film Archive in 1948–1951.
FILMCASE
«…this film should be regarded as the youth film…». Verbatim record of the debating view of the film «Her way» (1929)
This article is about the work of the first generation of graduates of the Soviet cinema institute, for instance, about the films of the talented director Dmitriy Poznanskiy. The collection of the documents on the debut film «Her way» (1929) by D. Poznanskiy and A. Shtrizhak, among them the verbatim record of the debating view of the film, allows to esteem the creative capacities of these directors.
EXPERIENCE
«…To bring to Belye Stolby the films of the highest and first quality…». Protocols of conferences of the foreign films sorting commission headed by Eisenstein, 1940–1941
«The main thing in American films is closeness and the respect towards the spectator». Verbatim records of seminar dedicated to the theme how the American film experience was adopted, 1940–1941
A few unique texts are kept in the Avenarius’s folder in the archive. These are verbatim of soviet film-makers discussions after overview of the American films.
These discussions reveal the interaction between the Soviet and The American cinema. Mark Donskoy, Sergey Yutkevich, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Alexander Medvedkin, Viktor Ardov, Yuri Raizman discuss the films: Seventh Heaven (1937), Midnight (1939), Dead End (1937), Stage Door (1937), Dramatic School (1938), The Letter (1940).
FROM THE STATE FILM ARCHIVE HISTORY (II)
From birth to maturity (1948–1970)
In 1948 the All-Union film archive was granted the status of the national film archive. It was headed by Viktor Privato. During thirty years of his work as the director the State Film Archive became world-known, and the conditions for full scientific work were provided. This section consists of the director’s biography and some documents illustrating his work.
DOCUMENTS AND COMMENT
«It is necessary to create the simplest conditions for writing a text on film history». The protocol of the scientific department conference (1954)
Alexander MACHERET. [The scope, subject and aims of a scientific work in State Film Archive]
Yuri MACHERET. People and Deeds in Stolby of 1950s
Georgiy AVENARIUS. On the new stage. (To the State Film Archive’s joining FIAF)
Naum KLEIMAN. The intellectual «stove».
In 1951–1955 the director Alexander Macheret was the chief scientific officer. The edition of the Soviet filmographic catalogue of features films was made under his supervising. You can find the story of that work in the protocol.
Macheret’s son recalls his father work in Belye Stolby.
Avenarius’s article relates of achievements and disadvantages in the archive’s work at the time when the archive joined FIAF.
1957–1968 represent a different step not only in the history of the State Film Archive, but also in the history of Russia, in particular — the years of the Thaw. This is an article that reflects the time of the Thaw not in the documentary style, but in the emotional manner.
The film historian Naum Kleiman, who was a scientific offi cer in the State Film Archive in 1961–1969, recalls his generation of film experts, how they began to work in the archive, how in the 1960s the cinemateque became the center of the culture conceptualization and the understanding of the Russian film history suffered some major changes.
THEME FOR EXPLORATION
Viktor DYOMIN. «The emotional script»
Few articles in the history of cinema are dedicated to the problem related with the so called emotional script that used to be one of the most interesting phenomenas of the Soviet drama in the beginning of 1930s. That’s why the article by Viktor Dyomin (1937–1993), film expert who worked in the State Film Archive as a scientific officer of the Russian films processing department in 1960–1968, is of primary concern for modern readers. This article was written in March of 1962, and it seems it was meant to be published in the film archive’s newsletter. It underwent some revision but it was never published.
By making the analysis of Alexander Rzhesehvskiy’s works (who is considered the most important and essentially the only representative of the so called emotional script style) the center of his researches, Dyomin carries out the generalizations that are connected with the evolution of the Soviet cinema in general.
FROM THE STATE FILM ARCHIVE HISTORY (III)
On the new stage (1970–2000)
The review of the film archive’s directors’ work after Viktor Privato.
BELYE STOLBY—2008
Nikolay BORODACHIOV: «The work must be done»
«To preserve everything, to improve nothing, to duplicate as much as possible». The round table «Cinemateques in the XXI century», Belye Stolby, January 2007
Valeriy BOSENKO. Three-four archive stories
Vladimir DMITRIEV. «The film archive must retain everything»
This section consists of the materials illustrating the archive’s present, future and its part in the modern cultural process. The present managing director Nikolay Borodachiov tells about his plans and achievements. The director of the scientific department Valeriy Bosenko tells about the archive researches. Vladimir Dmitriev, chief scientific officer, recalls his 40 years of work in the state archive and reflects on the cinemateque’s future in the digital era. |
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является незаконным.