Students from the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, Alik Darman and Volodymyr Prylutskyi, made an impressive discovery in the archives by uncovering two Ukrainian film reels from the 1920s. Previously, it was believed that these films were only stored in Russian archives.
According to the Dovzhenko Centre, the students found the films "Tripillian Tragedy" by Oleksandr Anod-Anochenko from 1926 and "The Secret of Rapid" by Pavlo Dolyna from 1930. They also previously discovered the film "Karl Brunner" from 1936.
"These reels are contratypes, part of the original materials of the film. They are used to print positive copies. This is a unique case, as original materials in other archives are rarely found. We are already planning to scan these films, so soon they will be available for viewing," says the head of the Dovzhenko Centre's film storage, Tetiana Derkach.
"Tripillian Tragedy" is one of the oldest film discoveries in Ukraine recently, explains film expert Oleg Olifer. The film was produced at the Yalta film studio of VUFKU.
"The film tells the story of the Tripillian campaign of the Bolsheviks in 1919, a bloody chapter of the Ukrainian Revolution and the Civil War of 1917–1921, which became a cornerstone in the history and myth of the communist youth movement in the USSR," he notes.
The film features numerous scenes of shootouts and battles with hundreds of extras, cavalry, and artillery. It places a strong emphasis on the brutality of the rebels and their reprisals against the Bolsheviks.
As a result, the film was well-received by audiences, but filmmakers and critics gave it low ratings due to its naturalism, banditry, and depiction of a negative example for the Ukrainian peasant. The screenwriter, writer Hryhorii Epik, was later sentenced and executed during the Stalinist terror for his involvement in a "terrorist nationalist organization."
"The Secret of Rapid" was produced at the Kyiv film studio. This is the first film by Pavlo Dolyna in the Dovzhenko Centre collection and the first film by the director found in Ukraine.
Pavlo Dolyna is a significant Ukrainian director and actor of the 1920s-1930s, having worked at Les Kurbas’s Young Theatre and other theatres. Dolyna made his debut as a film director at the age of 39 and directed eight feature films in the following five years. Most of his works are now considered lost.
After a critical denunciation article titled "Ideological Labyrinths" published in the "Kinо" magazine in 1932, Dolyna effectively left narrative filmmaking to work in "Techfilm," and after the war, he headed the Theatre Museum in Kyiv.
"The Secret of Rapid" depicts the typical sharp confrontation between the collective and the individual, the "new" and the "old" in the Soviet cinema of that time.
"The discovery of 'The Secret of Rapid' is a long-awaited return for researchers and audiences alike. It offers a chance to revisit the Ukrainian film canon and engage with the work of one of the key authors of the VUFKU era not just through film criticism and literature, but directly on screen," says Oleg Olifer.