VUFKU (All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration) existed for less than nine years (1922-1930), but it managed to release over 140 fiction films, several hundreds of non-fiction films and newsreels, dozens of animations, gain fame of “Ukrainian Hollywood,” and take under its control all aspects of the cinematic process – filmmaking, distribution, film press, propaganda, and education. From over 140 full-length fiction films made by VUFKU, about 60 films are considered lost. A lot of the surviving films have come down to us incomplete (without one or more parts).

The website VUFKU. Lost&Found is the first online collection of Dovzhenko-Centre’s media library and is perhaps the only online resource providing comprehensive information on VUFKU.

The mission of the VUFKU. Lost&Found project is to search and return to Ukraine the lost films of the 1920s. Traces of some of the lost films of that time can be found in international archives. Meanwhile, we are collecting archive materials about the lost films, restoring their contents, learning the context of their release.

These searches and analysis, restoration of films and their return to the cultural circulation require financial support. Donating to our fundraising campaign, which will start in October 2019, you will be able to contribute to the restoration of Ukrainian cinema.

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Vasylyna

Vasylyna

Bargewoman

1928, First Film Factory VUFKU (Odesa), 6 parts / 2,010 m

Director: 
Favst Lopatynskyi
Scriptwriter:
Mykhailo Yalovyi
Cameraman:
Oleksandr Lavryk
Artist:
 Vasyl Krychevskyi
Cast: 
 A. (O.?) Romanenko (Jastrzebski, a landlord), Armasheva (Jadwiga, his aunt), M. Shevalova / Shevalieva (Jozefa), Zinaida Pihulovych (Vasylyna, a young rural girl), Anton Klymenko (Vasyl, a young rural guy). Osyp Merlatti (Jastrzebski’s household manager), O. Appak (Odarka, an old rural woman), Bilohorska (the landlord’s housekeeper), Nataliia Chernyshova (a maid), M. Parshyna (a cook), Borys Shelestov (an office keeper), S. Vasiutynskyi (Moshnytskyi, Jastrzebski’s friend), I. Zorin (Chrzanowski, a young landlord), Sandulevskyi (Krushynskyi, a young landlord)

The film is based on I. Nechui-Levystkyi’s work The Bargewoman.

From dawn till dusk from early childhood, Vasylyna has been working on Pan Jastrzebski’s fields. The young nobleman likes the beautiful girl, and she starts working in his home as a maid. Vasylyna’s happiness does not last long: the man marries a girl of his social class. Vasylyna’s fiancé Vasyl, who feels insulted because of her unfaithfulness, instigates guys to cut off the braid of the landlord’s mistress. Vasylyna runs away from the village and hides from people. Soon, she gives birth to a child who dies shortly. Female workers from a factory find barely alive Vasylyna and help her become a weaver. Vasylyna starts a new life. 

Vasyl Krychevskyi worked on the film’s setting.

The work on the film lasted from 20 May 1927 to 19 November 1927. The film was released on 3 April 1928. 

Editorial script

Press notices

Censorial document