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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Mikhail Kaufman: Ukrainian Dilogy

Mikhail Kaufman: Ukrainian Dilogy is a unique volume dedicated to the director Mikhail Kaufman and his two pivotal films In Spring and Unprecedented Campaign, the masterpieces of the Ukrainian and world cinema.

The book attempts to consider the Ukrainian heritage of the director in every detail, to clear it from outdated ideological clichés and reflect critically on the key themes that stand out in his works- from the urban space transformations of the end of 1920s to the background of the Holodomor (Famine-Genocide) of 1932-1933.

Most texts included in the volume were found in archives and are now returned to the academic circulation. Among them one can find studio discussions, poet Mykola Ushakov’s text, notes and theories of Kaufman himself. Moreover, the book has exclusive DVDs with restored films In Spring and Unprecedented Campaign. Both films have unique audio tracks with musical accompaniment and historian’s comments which allow to view the classic of the Ukrainian cinema in a new light and find out what was left behind-the-scenes and out-of-focus.

MIKHAIL KAUFMAN: UKRAINIAN DILOGY

Book (Ukrainian, English) – 300 pages

Hardcover

IN SPRING 1929

Restored version + new soundtrack (Oleksandr Kokhanovsky, Ukraine)

Audio comment: Stanislav Tsalik

Duration: 54 min.

Video ratio: 4:3 PAL

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0

Unprecedented Campaign 1931

Restored version + new soundtrack (Anton Baibakov, Ukraine)

Audio comment: Lyudmila Grynevich

Duration: 70 min.

Video ratio: 4:3 PAL

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 

Language: Ukrainian, Russian
Subtitles: Ukrainian, English

Cost: 300 uah

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