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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Borys Zaveliev

(1876-1938)

Borys Zaveliev

Borys Zaveliev was an outstanding Russian and Ukrainian cameraman. Before starting a filmmaking career, he became a famous photographer.

Since 1914 he was a cameraman at the cinema factory O. Khanzhonkov and Co., where he shot dozens of films including «Жінка завтрашнього дня» (1914–15, directed by Petro Chardynin), «Пісня торжествуючого кохання» (1915), «Життя за життя» (1916; both directed by Yevgeni Bauer).

While working with Bauer, he was one of the first to use an agile and POV camera. For example, in the film «Після смерті» (1915) Zaveliev used novel dolly out camera and 180 degree panoramic shots in a combined soundstage consisting of a walkway and a half round room, which was a real know-how at that time. Moreover, Bauer and Zaveliev were nearly the first to use cross-cutting («Діти століття», 1915).

After the revolution of 1917, he worked in Georgia for some time, where he and Ivan Perestiani made the film «Сурамська фортеця».

In 1920s he was invited to VUFKU. In Ukraine he filmed The Stake of Mr. Enniok, A Spectre is Haunting Europe (both filmed in 1922, directed by Vladimir Gardin), Vendetta (1924, directed by Les Kurbas), Ukrasiia (1925), Taras Shevchenko (1926), Taras Triasylo (1927), The Little Shoes (1928; all directed by Petro Chardynin) and Zvenyhora (1928, directed by Oleksandr Dovzhenko).

The last film is still considered to be a top sample of camerawork. In addition to filmmaking, Zaveliev was involved in teaching at VGIK. In 1930s, he was repressed.

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