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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Hero of the Match

Heroes of the Match / Football Fans

1926, Second Film Studio VUFKU (Yalta), 3 parts / 793 m

Director:

Leonid Konstantinovskyi

Scriptwriter:

I. Andreiev-Dietkov, Mykola Borysov, Leonid Konstantinovskyi, Oleksandr Zolin

Cameraman:

P. Linden

Artist:

Vladimir Balliuzek

Cast:

Leonid Konstantinovskyi (Khrapkin, the hero of the match), H. Tankus (Mariika, his wife), H. Rostov (a Professor), Karienina (Professor’s wife), A. (O.) Morozov (Pyzhov), A. (O) Zhdanov (a passerby), Anna Ahramova (a nurse in the kindergarten), Dmytro Kapka

It is a short travesty film about football fans. Initially, Volodymyr Zanoza worked on the film on the basis of Odesa Film Studio VUFKU. The VUFKU administration approved it, however, taking into account the abundance of summer scenery, the group was disbanded, and the shooting was rescheduled for the spring. In the spring of 1926, the script re-written by Borysov was transferred to Yalta Film Studio.

The shooting began on 1 October 1926 and finished on 10 November 1926. Most likely, the film was not screened.

The film is lost.