Nikoloz Shengelaia’s Twenty-Six Commissars, and two shorts
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Includes the following films:
Twenty-Six Commissars
1932. USSR. Directed by Nikoloz Shengelaia. With K. Gasanov, Baba-Zade, Heiri Emirzade. Set against a backdrop of oil derricks and sand dunes, this impressive silent-era feature about the geopolitical struggle for the control of oil fields is still relevant today. “Shengelaia went to the film factory of Azerbaijan, Azerkino, to direct Twenty-Six Commissars...about the 1918 defeat of pro-Soviet forces in Baku, an event that had opened the doors for British and Turkish occupants.... The picture’s stylish pathos and ritualism preceded the monumentalism of the late 1930s–1940s and secured it a place in the annals of Soviet cinema” (Peter Rollberg, Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema). Silent, with Russian, Georgian, and English intertitles and piano accompaniment. 76 min.
Journey of Akaki Tsereteli to Racha and Lechkhumi
1912. Georgia. Directed by Vasil Amashukeli. Amashukeli, a director and cinematographer who worked in Azerbaijan and Georgia, is considered the founder of cinema not only in Georgia but in the whole Caucasus. The earliest surviving Georgian documentary featurette from the silent era depicts legendary poet Akaki Tsereteli’s journey to mountainous areas of western Georgia and his interactions with the people living there. Silent, with Russian and Georgian intertitles, and simultaneous English translation. 33 min.
Work at Oil Derricks and Oil Extraction
1907. Azerbaijan. Directed by Vasil Amashukeli. A documentary on oil production in Baku, then the “black gold” capital of the world. 5 min.