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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Semiramis’ Pearls

Semiramis’ Pearls

1929, First Film Studio VUFKU (Odesa), 7 parts / 2,200 m

Director:
 Heorhii Stabovyi
Scriptwriter: 
Stanislav Waiting (Radzynskyi), Volodymyr Valdo
Cameraman:
 Joseph Rona
Artist:
 Heinrich Beisenherz, Ivan Suvorov
Cast:
 H. Rostov (Ahmed-pasha, Khadjibey fortress governor), M. Shevelie/o/va (Ahmed-pasha’s chief wife), Ye. Mohern (Ziuleika, a younger wife, Semiramis’ Pearl), H. Marynchak (Holota, a young Cossack), Serhii Petrov (chevalier de Fougo, a detachment commander of the Army of Catherine II), Karl Tomskyi (Asparidi, a Greek man), Stepan Shahaida (Chapyra, an old Zaporozhian Cossack), (Ivan ?) Kovalevskyi (count Pototskyi), A. (?) Vabnyk (Yusuf, a eunuch at Ahmed-pasha’s harem), Ivan Malikov-Elvorti (an officer in charge), Leonid Khazanov (Ziuleika’s hairdresser)

It is a history of founding Odesa at the location of former Turkish fortress Khadjibey.

The reign of Catherine II. Ahmed-pasha, the governor of Khadjibey fortress, enjoys a lush life and his harem.

At the order of the empress to free the Slavic lands from unorthodox people, Russian troops headed by the courtier general de Fougo, approach the fortress. Cossacks expelled from Zaporozhian Sich are ahead of de Fougo. Due to a sudden assault, they seize the Turkish fortress. To make amendments for their arbitrariness, the Cossack leaders decide to give the fortress to Catherine II as a gift. Rich noblemen and merchandises come to the fortress from Russia. Cossacks come under a new sway, moreover, de Fougo grabs their lands.

Furious Zaporozhians burst into the governor’s palace. De Fougo sends his forces against them. Cossacks are forced to look for new territories.

The film is lost.

The film was released on 29 March 1929 in Kyiv and on 13 August 1929 in Moscow.

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