Kinoks: Difference between revisions
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Removed statement that the Kinoks was established in 1919, as I can't verify the source given. Have moved to talk. Added other dates, with sources (have been trying to figure out dates so might as well add my findings here!) |
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The '''Kinoks''' ("kino-oki," meaning cinema-eyes) were a collective of Soviet filmmakers in 1920s Russia, |
The '''Kinoks''' ("kino-oki," meaning cinema-eyes) were a collective of Soviet filmmakers in 1920s Russia, consisting of [[Dziga Vertov]], [[Elisaveta Svilova|Elizaveta Svilova]] and [[Mikhail Kaufman]]. |
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There is some uncertainty about the creation of the group. According to Annette Michelson, Georges Sadoul states the collective was founded in 1922 {{cite book |last1=Michaelson |first1=Annette |title=Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov |isbn=0-520-05630-2 |page=xxiv}} by Svilova, Vertov and Kaufman, and the painter Belyaev was a fourth member <ref>{{cite book |last1=Michaelson |first1=Annette |title=Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov |isbn=0-520-05630-2 |page=12}}</ref>. However, in 1923 Svilova wrote an open letter to the journal LEF applying for admission to the Council of Three<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Svilova |first1=Elizaveta |title=V sovet troikh. Zaiavlenie |journal=LEF |date=1923 |issue=4 |pages=220-221 |url=http://www.ruthenia.ru/sovlit/j/2942.html}}</ref>. Scholars have interpreted this as a publicity stunt "to provide exposure of their work and to raise awareness of their commitment to documentary cinema" <ref>{{cite book |last1=Penfold |first1=Christopher |title=Elizaveta Svilova and Soviet Documentary Film |date=2013 |publisher=PhD dissertation, University of Southampton |location=Southampton |page=16 |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/367302/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Molcard |first1=Eva |title=Elizaveta Svilova |url=https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/elizaveta-svilova/ |website=Women Film Pioneers Project |publisher=Columbia University Libraries |accessdate=7 May 2020}}</ref> rather than an actual application, since Svilova had already been working with Vertov and Kaufman for several years. From 1922 to 1923 Vertov, Kaufman, and Svilova published a number of manifestos in avant-garde journals which clarified the Kinoks' positions vis-à-vis other leftist groups. |
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In 1919 Vertov and his future wife, film editor [[Elisaveta Svilova|Elizaveta Svilova]], plus several other young filmmakers created the group. In 1922 they were joined by [[Mikhail Kaufman]], who had just returned from the civil war. From 1922 to 1923 Vertov, Kaufman, and Svilova published a number of manifestos in avant-garde journals which clarified the Kinoks' positions vis-à-vis other leftist groups. |
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The Kinoks rejected "staged" cinema with its stars, plots, props and studio shooting. They insisted that the cinema of the future be the cinema of fact: newsreels recording the real world, "life caught unawares." Vertov proclaimed the primacy of camera ("Kino-Eye") over the human eye. The camera lens was a machine that could be perfected infinitely to grasp the world in its entirety and organize visual chaos into a coherent, objective picture. At the same time Vertov emphasized that his Kino-Eye principle was a method of "communist" deciphering of the world. Vertov considered [[Marxism]] the only objective and scientific tool of analysis and even called a series of the 23 newsreels he directed between 1922 and 1925 [[Kino-Pravda]], "pravda" being not only the Russian word for the truth but also the title of the official party newspaper.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20070808211425/http://cours.cegep-st-jerome.qc.ca/511-411-p.l/vertov.htm |Dziga Vertov (1896-1954)</ref> |
The Kinoks rejected "staged" cinema with its stars, plots, props and studio shooting. They insisted that the cinema of the future be the cinema of fact: newsreels recording the real world, "life caught unawares." Vertov proclaimed the primacy of camera ("Kino-Eye") over the human eye. The camera lens was a machine that could be perfected infinitely to grasp the world in its entirety and organize visual chaos into a coherent, objective picture. At the same time Vertov emphasized that his Kino-Eye principle was a method of "communist" deciphering of the world. Vertov considered [[Marxism]] the only objective and scientific tool of analysis and even called a series of the 23 newsreels he directed between 1922 and 1925 [[Kino-Pravda]], "pravda" being not only the Russian word for the truth but also the title of the official party newspaper.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20070808211425/http://cours.cegep-st-jerome.qc.ca/511-411-p.l/vertov.htm |Dziga Vertov (1896-1954)</ref> |
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Revision as of 09:40, 7 May 2020
The Kinoks ("kino-oki," meaning cinema-eyes) were a collective of Soviet filmmakers in 1920s Russia, consisting of Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova and Mikhail Kaufman.
There is some uncertainty about the creation of the group. According to Annette Michelson, Georges Sadoul states the collective was founded in 1922 Michaelson, Annette. Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov. p. xxiv. ISBN 0-520-05630-2. by Svilova, Vertov and Kaufman, and the painter Belyaev was a fourth member [1]. However, in 1923 Svilova wrote an open letter to the journal LEF applying for admission to the Council of Three[2]. Scholars have interpreted this as a publicity stunt "to provide exposure of their work and to raise awareness of their commitment to documentary cinema" [3][4] rather than an actual application, since Svilova had already been working with Vertov and Kaufman for several years. From 1922 to 1923 Vertov, Kaufman, and Svilova published a number of manifestos in avant-garde journals which clarified the Kinoks' positions vis-à-vis other leftist groups.
The Kinoks rejected "staged" cinema with its stars, plots, props and studio shooting. They insisted that the cinema of the future be the cinema of fact: newsreels recording the real world, "life caught unawares." Vertov proclaimed the primacy of camera ("Kino-Eye") over the human eye. The camera lens was a machine that could be perfected infinitely to grasp the world in its entirety and organize visual chaos into a coherent, objective picture. At the same time Vertov emphasized that his Kino-Eye principle was a method of "communist" deciphering of the world. Vertov considered Marxism the only objective and scientific tool of analysis and even called a series of the 23 newsreels he directed between 1922 and 1925 Kino-Pravda, "pravda" being not only the Russian word for the truth but also the title of the official party newspaper.[5]
The most acclaimed work is undoubtedly the seminal city symphony, Man with a Movie Camera (1929).
References
- ^ Michaelson, Annette. Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov. p. 12. ISBN 0-520-05630-2.
- ^ Svilova, Elizaveta (1923). "V sovet troikh. Zaiavlenie". LEF (4): 220–221.
- ^ Penfold, Christopher (2013). Elizaveta Svilova and Soviet Documentary Film. Southampton: PhD dissertation, University of Southampton. p. 16.
- ^ Molcard, Eva. "Elizaveta Svilova". Women Film Pioneers Project. Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20070808211425/http://cours.cegep-st-jerome.qc.ca/511-411-p.l/vertov.htm |Dziga Vertov (1896-1954)
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