Mikhail Kaufman

A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

Dziga Vertov-directed Soviet newsreel covering: A bet is placed on the outcome of the Trial of the Socialist Revolutionaries / The verdict / People in streetcars and on the street / A crashed aircraft / Reconstruction of streetcar line 13 / Peacetime use of tanks – airport construction work.

Documentary portrait of Dziga Vertov, father of documentary cinema.

The film "All the Vertovs" tells about the Kaufman brothers-David, Mikhail and Boris. All three are world-class filmmakers. Each of them managed to achieve the highest level of proficiency in the profession, each had their own vision of the world and the gift to embody it on the screen in a unique, deeply individual manner.

A story about the optical halo effect, which appears as a secondary glow around a light source. The scientific approach to the halo is opposed to superstition and outdated ideas.

A popular science film about the exploration of one of the planets of the solar system - Mars.

The film tells about the position of Earth in outer space. Modern scientific knowledge is contrasted with ancient ideas about the structure of the world.

Short Soviet film: 'a memorial of the epoch.'

Kyiv, 1929. Shots of the city as it wakes up and its awakening echoes with the lyrical pictures of the rebirth of nature. Kaufman’s attentive camera pauses for a long time on the smiling faces of children, painting a lyrical picture, a confession of love for Kyiv.

Kyiv, 1929. Shots of the city as it wakes up and its awakening echoes with the lyrical pictures of the rebirth of nature. Kaufman’s attentive camera pauses for a long time on the smiling faces of children, painting a lyrical picture, a confession of love for Kyiv.

A short film showing the big Soviet factory 'Sharikopodshipnik.'

An artistic documentary essay "about little ones, for grown-ups." The film has not been preserved.

Short documentary about the earth.

Made during the rapid industrialisation and collectivisation of Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. Kaufman countered the poverty of the villages with the geometrical rhythm of mechanised factories; militarisation is shown as the next step of the ‘unprecedented campaign’. "The proletariat, having become master of one sixth of the globe, frees the rural working people from the kulak oppression… THE PROLETARIAT …engages the peasantry in a joint campaign for Socialism. This is what the film speaks about".

Made during the rapid industrialisation and collectivisation of Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. Kaufman countered the poverty of the villages with the geometrical rhythm of mechanised factories; militarisation is shown as the next step of the ‘unprecedented campaign’. "The proletariat, having become master of one sixth of the globe, frees the rural working people from the kulak oppression… THE PROLETARIAT …engages the peasantry in a joint campaign for Socialism. This is what the film speaks about".

Documentary almanac directed by the great cinematographer Mikhail Kaufman about the life of the Soviet capital.