Authors
Anita Frison1; 1 Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy Discussion
This contribution intends to explore the ways in which folklore was adapted to the screen in early Russian cinema. The dependence of cinema on folklore has already been pointed out by N. Zorkaya, who has highlighted its ties to popular storytelling and visual arts (for example the lubok). We argue that this connection exists with regards both to narrative devices and thematic choices. We will take into consideration popular feature films proposing to the public traditional folkloric motifs borrowed from 19th century literature, like Rusalka (1910), Skazka o spjashchej tsarevne i semi bogatyryakh (1914) Noch pered Rozhdestvom (1915), or from songs and ballads, like Van’ka klyuchnik (1909), or even from everyday life (Krest’yanskaya svad’ba, 1910). However, the interest in folklore is noticeable also in the first semi-ethnographic documentaries, shot in several regions of the Empire and intending to educate the city dwellers on different customs and ways of life. Thus, we will also take into consideration a list of documentaries sponsored by the producers Khanzhonkov and Drankov, in order to determine which specific cultures/peoples they were most interested in depicting on the screen. The analysis will be based on preserved films, screenplays, librettos and reviews. 
