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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One Night

Signals from the Sea / The Light Went Out

1927, Second Film Studio VUFKU (Yalta), 6 parts / 1,800 m

Director:
 Manuel Bolshyntsov
Scriptwriter:
 Lazar Frenkel, Mykhailo Abramovych (based on Mykola Liadov’s materials)
Cameraman:
 Volodymyr Lemke
Artist:
 Kostiantyn Yevsieiev
Cast:
 M. Arbienin (Rybnykov, a steamship owner), H. Marynchak (Kozhukhov, Rybnykov’s ex-worker), K. Fedotov (his son), V. Shakhovskyi (Billy Streng, a sailor), K. Eggers (Sashka, a bandit), Tiurykov (a sailor), Radov (a lighthouse keeper), D. Skvolska (Ania, his granddaughter), Ahramova (an old fisherwoman)

Mid-1920s of the 20th century. On a Russian ship, state-owned after the revolution, jewellery was hidden. Two Russian White emigrants, the ex-owner of the ship and the skipper, know about it. They decide to find and appropriate the jewellery. Without disclosing any details, they involve an unemployed English motorman in this matter. The three of them cross the border and get on the board of the ship. In the very last moment, the Englishman, realising the criminal nature of their idea, calls the Soviet coastal guards. Border guards arrest the criminals and take the jewellery.

The script of M. Abramovych and Lazar Frenkel 10,000 Dollars on the Head of Billy Strong was approved by the Higher Repertoire Committee (protocol No 2312) on 24 November 1926. The work on the film started on 23 December 1926 and finished on 15 May 1927.

The film is lost.