Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko made Earth, a 1930 Soviet silent film about the process of collectivization and the hostility of kulak landowners under the First Five-Year Plan.
It is the third panel, with “Zvenigora” and “Arsenal,” of Dovzhenko’s “Ukraine Trilogy.”
The script was inspired by Dovzhenko’s life and experience of the process of collectivization in his native Ukraine.
That process, which was the film’s backdrop, informed its reception in the Soviet Union, which was largely negative.
Earth is regarded as Dovzhenko’s masterpiece and as one of the greatest films ever made.
The film was voted number 10 on the prestigious Brussels 12 list at the 1958 World Expo.
Directed, written by Oleksandr Dovzhenko
Cinematography: Danylo Demutsky
Edited by Dovzhenko
Music by Levko Revutsky (original release); Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov (1971 restoration); DakhaBrakha (2012 remaster)
Release date: April 8, 1930
Running time: 76 minutes
Silent film; Ukrainian intertitles
