SFCINEMATHEQUE

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Thursday, May 14, 1998

FilmStories 1: Dziga Vertov + Three Songs of Lenin

California College of the Arts





In the Land of Cinema Veterans: A Film Expedition around Dziga Vertov is a combination travelogue/documentary portrait of this great master of Soviet cinema who left an indelible mark on film history with his passionate revolutionary manifestos and films such as Man With a Movie Camera and Enthusiasm. Thomas Tode and Ale Muñoz use their camera to explore contemporary Moscow and find those who remember Vertov–including his cameraman, Tolchan–while simultaneously tracing the path of Vertov’s career from the early 20s to his isolation under Stalin and death in the 50s. Followed at 9 pm by Three Songs of Lenin, Vertov’s rarely screened 1934 lyrical masterpiece about the effect of Lenin’s life and teaching on the women of Central Asia.