FORMULATION OF CINEMATOGRAPHIC EDUCATION IN ODESSA: PAGES OF «SILUETS» JOURNAL (1922–1925)

Abstract

The scope of the publication is the development of the cinema-technical school in Odessa in 1922–1925. The subject of the study is cinematographic education. Odessa Cinema Technology Center became the first educational institution on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, which trained specialized film industry workers. In 1922–1925, the appearance of such institution was obvious, in connection with the establishment and development of cinematography and the limited number of qualified workers. Its teachers were also pioneers in filmmaking, shared their knowledge and practice. The value of the institution was that, besides the theoretical base, the students also gained a great deal of practical experience. Precisely from the publications in the journal «Silhouettes», we learn about the activities of the cinema-technical school and its fate. An entire section covered the cinematic activity in Odessa and the Ukrainian SSR (headings «Cinema Front», «At the Odessa Film Studio», «Cinema-technical school »...). For example, we find publications contained the information about in which films will be used the students, where they will go to the internship, how much they receive scholarships, which subjects they will learn, who can be matriculated to the college, how many students have graduated, etc. Our research can be used for the further explore of the development of cinema education in Odessa and Ukraine. The value of the journal “Silhouettes” is that with the aid of it we can recreate one of the aspects of development of the Odessa cinema-technical school. We have analysed the archives of the State Archives of the Odessa Region, specialized literature and memories of the eyewitnesses, in order to completely reconstruct the activities of the cinema college. This enabled us to provide a holistic view of the development of cinema education in Odessa.