Soviet Avant-garde Cinema of the 20s

In the 1920s and 30s, Soviet Union became one of the important centers for the development of cinema medium. The nationalization of the film industry by the Bolsheviks and the massive ideological and cultural shifts endured by the newly established Soviet state led to the explosion of Soviet cinema and the active exploration of film language. This seminar explores the history of Soviet cinema of that period with the main focus on the emergence and development of Soviet Montage Theory.  It will introduce students to the pinnacles of film history made by renowned Soviet film auteurs such as Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Esfir Shub and Dziga Vertov, as well as important films by Soviet film directors who are lesser known in the West: Abram Room, Boris Barnet, Margarita Barskaya.  The emphasis throughout the class will be on the connection between form and content, as we learn to analyze the cinematic language side by side with the social and political significance of these films. The following questions will be central to our class discussions: How did Soviet cinema develop a new cinematic language to reflect massive social and political changes taking place in the Soviet Union during the period in question? How did Soviet Montage Theory emerge and develop, and what were the cultural forces shaping it? How can we distinguish between different approaches to montage among Soviet film directors? What was the role of the state in shaping the national cinema? How were individual filmmakers able to either work with or push back against, the state agenda to assert their own creativity?