EARLY CINEMA
Man with a Movie Camera U
USSR | 1929 68 minutes
DIRECTED BY
Dziga Vertov
STARRINGMikhail Kaufman | Elizaveta Svilova
Man with a Movie Camera is widely regarded as one of the most innovative films ever made. Emerging from the Soviet avant-garde, the film represents both a document of everyday life and a radical rethinking of what cinema could be. Rather than relying on actors, sets, or a traditional plot, Vertov saw film as a new language capable of capturing and revealing the rhythms of modern existence.
Shot across Soviet cities including Moscow, Odessa, and Kiev, the film follows the course of a single day. Its content is deceptively simple - factory labour, tram rides, sports, weddings, and moments of rest. Yet the presentation is revolutionary. Vertov, together with cinematographer Mikhail Kaufman and editor Elizaveta Svilova, deployed an astonishing range of experimental techniques: split screens, freeze frames, slow motion, reverse motion, extreme close-ups, and rapid montage. These visual experiments embodied Vertov’s concept of the “Kino-Eye” - the idea that the camera, freed from human limitations, could reveal truths inaccessible to ordinary perception.
Though its initial reception in the Soviet Union was mixed - some critics found it too abstract and insufficiently political - the film’s reputation steadily grew. By the late twentieth century it was recognised not only as a cornerstone of documentary film-making but also as a precursor to later cinematic movements. Its direct influence can be seen in experimental documentaries such as Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi (1982), which similarly uses montage and music to explore the relationship between people, technology, and modern life. Film-makers from Jean-Luc Godard to Chris Marker also drew inspiration from Vertov’s insistence that cinema reflect on its own processes, blurring the line between documentation and artistic construction.
In 2014, the film was named the greatest documentary of all time in a poll of international film-makers, underscoring its enduring relevance.
6 October 2025 MONDAY 19:30
GREEN ROOM
Tickets £3.00!