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Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality

Name: Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality
Director: Dziga Vertov
Released: 1924
Duration: 14 min

Representation Score

4.3/10

Fair

1924

Director

Dziga Vertov

Runtime

14 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Dziga Vertov’s newsreel serves as a radical critique of traditional cinematic conventions. By focusing on the 'machine aesthetic' and the rhythms of the proletariat, the film challenges individualist and religious frameworks of its time. The work stands out in its cultural subversion, replacing Western bourgeois clichés with a communal, anti-capitalist celebration of the working class. It redefines the social unit from the nuclear family to the workers' collective. However, the film’s emphasis on industrial progress and broad class identity leads to a lack of specific representation for LGBTQ+ and disability identities. Its diversity is centered on ideological and class-based shifts rather than individual identity politics.

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Category Breakdown

Does Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The newsreel focuses on Soviet social movements and industrial progress. There are no LGBTQ+ characters or non-conforming gender identities featured.

How does Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality portray gender?

Good

The film challenges traditional hierarchies by emphasizing the collective over the individual. Women are shown as vital contributors to the socio-economic system through their roles in the labor force.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality?

Fair

The film showcases a wide range of Eurasian workers. It highlights a universal worker identity that avoids the racial hierarchies typical of Western colonial films from the 1920s.

How does Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative criticizes Western bourgeois and religious institutions. It promotes a secular, materialist ideology and the communal spirit of the Soviet collective.

Does Kino-Pravda No. 18: A Movie-Camera Race Over 299 Metres and 14 Minutes and 50 Seconds in the Direction of Soviet Reality include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no notable focus on disability as a central theme or narrative device in this work.

Present on Screen

Challenges Western bourgeois and religious structures through radical cultural framing.
Highlights women's vital roles in the socio-economic system.
Avoids racial hierarchies by promoting a universal worker identity.

Limited or Absent

No representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-conforming gender narratives.
No focus on disability as a narrative or thematic element.
Limited evidence of intentional multi-ethnic diversity beyond broad Soviet identity.

Official Synopsis

Dziga Vertov-directed Soviet newsreel covering: Up the Eiffel Tower in Paris / Moscow / Auto race Petrograd – Moscow / Aspects of everyday Soviet life / Peasant from Jaroslavl' visiting Moscow / Ceremonial introduction of a newborn into a workers' collective

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