Description: Post-Revolution Nonfiction Film not only presents a critical historical view of the politics, rhetoric, and aesthetics shaping post-revolution Soviet and Cuban culture but provides a framework for understanding the larger political and cultural implications of documentary and nonfiction film.
Review Quotes:
"[M]alitsky's book is an extremely valuable contribution to both film theory and film history and should become required reading for students of film with a focus on documentary.October 2014"--Russian Review
"A book that analyzes Soviet cinema side-by-side with Cuban film is welcome, even though the two countries are represented here in parallel. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice
"A splendid and highly readable book which imbues a suggestive comparison of cinema in the early years of the Soviet and Cuban revolutions with fresh insights."--Michael Chanan, author of Cuban Cinema
"Joshua Malitsky here mines a rich seam. By closely comparing Vertov and Alvarez he uncovers 'post-revolutionary nonfiction film' as a discernible entity with commonalities shared across time and cultures. The extensive--indeed vast--archive of newsreels from both filmmakers is well worth the thorough attention he gives it, suggesting a context for their better-known documentaries. And his situating of Esfir Shub's compilations as not so much an alternative to Vertov but rather a wholesale replacement approach to agitprop is also compelling. All in all, Malitsky offers a crucial corrective to much received thinking on 20th century radical film."--Brian Winston, University of Lincoln, UK