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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Olga Preobrazhenskaya

(1881-1971)

Olga Preobrazhenskaya

Olga Preobrazhenskaya was a Russian Soviet director, actress and scriptwriter.

She was born on 24 July 1881 (according to other sources — in 1884) in Moscow. During 1901-1906, she studied at Moscow Art Theatre Studio, then worked in provincial theatres. In 1913, she made her début in the film Keys to Happiness (Ключи щастя). In 1916, she began co-directing with her husband, Vladimir Gardin. Together with him she worked at VUFKU, where she made the films Landlord and Locksmith and Chancellor. After returning to Russia, she made her most famous film, Riazan Women (1927). She died on 30 October 1971 in Moscow.

Director’s filmography: Mistress into Maid (Панянка-селянка) (1916), Victoria (Вікторія) (1917), Landlord (Поміщик) (1923), Locksmith and Chancellor (Слюсар і канцлер) (1923), Fedka’s Truth (Федькина правда) (1925), Kashtanka (Каштанка) (1926), Riazan Women (Баби рязанські) (1926), Mystery of Ana Guy (Тайна Ани Гай) (1927), Light Town (Світле місто) (1928), The Last Attraction (Останній аттракціон) (1929), And Quiet Flows the Don (Тихий Дон) (1930), The Only Joy (Єдина радість) (1933), Hostile Paths (Ворожі стежки) (1935), Stepan Razin (Степан Разін) (1939), The Taiga Boy (Хлопець з тайги) (1941).

Actress: Keys to Happiness (Ключі щастя) (1913), Home of the Gentry (Дворянське гніздо) (1914/1915), The Slums of Saint Petersburg (Петербурзькі нетрі) (1915), War and Peace (1915), Plebeian (Плебей) (1915), Privalov’s Millions (Приваловські мільйони) (mini series, 1915), Garnet Bracelet (Гранатовий браслет) (1915), Iron Heel (Залізна п’ята) (1919).