"Red Finland," the Last Film of the Skobelev Committee

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УДК 904(470)

Victor N. Batalin, Galina E. Malysheva

Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, Krasnogorsk, Russian Federation

"Red Finland," the Last Film of the Skobelev Committee

Abstract

4-year-long history of the Skobelev Committee film department came to an end in 1918, when it was nationalized. The article follows the fate of its last film, “Red Finland,” and attempts to restore the original assembling using surviving cadres according to information of written sources. In 1917, after the February Revolution, the Skobelev Committee showed on screen the following films: newsreel “Free Russia,” 3 series of “Funeral of the victims of Revolution,” “The 1 of May, International day of labour and people’s fraternity (Petrograd),” “The 1 of May, International day of labour and people’s fraternity in Kronshtadt,” “Revolutionary days in Petrograd,” “Manifestation of the 18 of June,” “Moscow State Conference,” and other. On October 12, 1917 by order of the Provisionary Government the Skobelev Committee passed under the Political directorate (PUR) of the War Ministry, which engaged in politico-educational activities. In December 1917 after the October Revolution the Committee became independent and was renamed Skobelev Enlightenment Committee. From November 1917 to March 1918 it filmed “Peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk,” “Front in the days of peace negotiations” (about Russian and German soldiers fraternizing in the Northern Front), “Opening of the Constituent Assembly,” “Closure of the Constituent Assembly,” “People’s power” (about Constituent Assembly elections), “Red Finland” (about revolution in Finland). In early March 1918 evacuation of the Skobelev Committee Petrograd department property was to be evacuated to Moscow; the meeting of the State Commission on Education chaired by N. K. Krupskaya decided to transfer the Committee to the People's Commissariat for Education (Narkompros) and to nationalize its film department (but no other department). On April 15, 1918 the Committee was shut down, his assents and funds nationalized. “Red Finland” was the Committee’s last film. Future studies of newsreels and documentary films released after 1918 may reveal missing cadres of the “Red Finland.” Such research would promote the development of newsreels source study technics.

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Keywords

Film source, newsreel, nationalization, reconstruction, Civil War in Finland

References

BATALIN, V.N. Kinokhronika v Rossii 1896-1916gg. Opis' kinos"emok, khranyashchikhsya v RGAKFD [Newsreel in Russia of 1896-1916: Inventory of films stored in the RGAKFD. In Russ.]. Moscow, OLMA-PRESS publ., 2002, 475 p.

BATALIN, V.N., MALYSHEVA, G.E. Istoriya Rossiiskogo gosudarstvennogo arkhiva kinofotodokumentov (1926-1966) [The history of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents (1926-1966). In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Liki Rossii publ, 2011, 245 p.

KHANZHONKOV, A.A. Pervye gody russkoi kinematografii [The first years of Russian cinematography. In Russ.]. Moscow-Leningrad, Iskusstvo publ, 1937, 174 p.

About author

Victor N. Batalin, Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, chief specialist, Russian Federation, Krasnogorsk, Russian Federation, +7-495-562-23-46, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Galina E. Malysheva, historian, veteran of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, Russian Federation, Krasnogorsk, Moskow region; +7-495-562-23-46; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 1.04.2017, published:

BATALIN, V. N., MALYSHEVA, G. E. Poslednii fil'm Skobelevskogo komiteta “Krasnaya Finlyandiya” ["Red Finland," the last film of the Skobelev Committee. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista – Herald of an Archivist, 2017, no. 3, pp. 35-50.

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