Authors

Discussion

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss some preliminary results of an ongoing research concerning the depiction of the Caucasus in Pre-revolutionary Russian Cinema. Using archival materials and the reviews and librettos published in Early Russian film press, we have created a database of films shot in the Caucasus in the period 1908-1917. These films, many of which seem to be lost, can be contextualised within the ethnographic practices of the Russian empire. 

Focusing on the preserved movies, we have highlighted a corpus of eight specific fiction films, sometimes bearing a literary source (especially Lermontov), that will be investigated in their Orientalist depiction of Caucasian characters and landscapes: Ponizovaja vol'nica (1908), Bela (1913), Gornyj orlenok (1913), Beglec (1914), Sten'ka Razin (1914), Alym, krymskyj razbojnik (1916) Prikliučenie Liny v Soči (1916), Aziade (1918). 

While preserving the morphological dimension, we intend to adopt a quantitative method in our analysis, drawing from Adelheid Heftberger’s Digital Humanities and Film Studies. Visualising Dziva Vertov’s Work (2018), and Daniel Biltereyst and Lies Van de Vijverin’s Mapping Movie Magazines. Digitalization, Periodicals and Cinema History (2020).