First, it is the only database of silent films that combines so many different sources allowing users to get as much information on each film as possible. Such databases would be very useful if they could cover the production of the later (non-silent) cinema. However, for early cinema, it is especially important to collect and organize various resources as a large number of silent films is lost. This database of pre-Soviet films may become a model for similar projects that would cover cinemas of other national traditions such as European, American, and Asian film traditions.
Second, the database aims to provide a fundamental tool for the study of pre-Soviet cinema. Thorough research of the pioneer years is always crucial to help us understand the formation of a national cinema and of national culture. Yet, for decades this period of Russian history was consciously dismissed by Soviet scholars, which led to a worldwide notion that Russian film history begins only in the Soviet years, in the mid-1920s. A number of scholars have tried to correct this misperception (particularly following a groundbreaking retrospective of early Russian cinema in Pordenone in 1989). Yet, it still remains a generally neglected area, with just a few names (Yevgeni Bauer, Yakov Protazanov, Wladyslaw Starewicz) standing out.
One of the main reasons for this is that the overwhelming majority of early Russian films are considered lost. Of more than 2700 Russian films only 375 are known to exist, which amounts to only 14%. It is also worth saying that most of these survive as incomplete prints, often as small fragments. Among those completely lost are the only cinematic works of two great stage directors, Vsevolod Meyerhold, and Aleksandr Tairov, the works of the legendary actor Michael Chekhov, as well as the major body of work of the leading directors of the time, Bauer, Protazanov, Vladimir Gardin. Some of these artists had a significant impact on film and theatre of the twentieth century, in Russia and worldwide. Meyerhold was the teacher of Sergei Eisenstein, and Gardin founded the still-existing State Film School (now University) in Moscow, among the graduates of which are Vsevolod Pudovkin, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Aleksandr Sokurov, and Chekhov had crucial influence on a very wide range of actors, from his direct pupils Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood to Jack Nicholson and Johnny Depp.
Third, the database allows us to see a more diverse picture of pre-Soviet cinema which for many years was mostly taken as Russian. Although the majority of film studios were based in Moscow and St. Petersburg, many films were produced elsewhere: in Kyiv (Ukraine), Baku (Azerbaijan), Riga (Latvia), Warsaw (Poland), and other cities that are not located in the Russian Federation today. Many films produced outside of the metropolia of St. Petersburg and Moscow have rarely attracted scholars’ attention. The database sheds light on these films by providing extra sources to reflect on them. For example, the database has 13 promotional images for The Wife (Zhena; 1916, directed by Boris Svetlov), the first film shot in Baku (Azerbaijan).
Furthermore, since the database tends to cover all the films produced in the pre-Soviet space, it provides materials for films that reflected themes that were considered controversial in the Russian Empire. For example, the database has two promotional stills and a libretto for the film Love or Passion (Liubov’ ili strast’; 1916, directed by Alexander Ural’skii), an adaptation of Herman Bang’s novel Mikaël (1902). This melodrama is a rare example of a representation of homoeroticism in the cinema of the Russian Empire. Since the film is lost, the database materials are especially helpful for investigating the representation of queerness in silent cinema.
Last but not least, the database will help to preserve materials from family collections and make them accessible. Descendants of people involved in pre-Soviet film production still have materials and photographs that may shed light on certain films. Unfortunately, locating these family collections becomes more and more challenging since it is challenging for newer generations to keep the documents. The database team is very grateful to people who were kind enough to share their materials with us. For example, Tatiana Kolovskaia has generously provided film-related photographs and postcards from her family archive — her great-aunt Zinaida Shpor was an actress and allegedly the first female assistant director in Russia; see, for example, her photograph for Evgeny Bauer's film After Death (Posle smerti; 1915). Polina Kasianova has shared her rich collection of materials related to The Death of Gods (Smert’ bogov; 1916) directed by her great-grandfather, Vladimir Kasianov that included his own sketches, film’s promotional stills, frame enlargements, and more. Please find highlights of this collection in the additional supporting documentation section.
Overall, the database is useful for scholars of global silent cinema and Slavic culture. As a model, it can help develop similar reference tools that would cover other national cinemas. It also preserves digitally and makes accessible materials from family archives that could have been lost with time.