Salt for Svanetia

Salt for Svanetia

Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov • 1930 • USSR/Georgia

The directorial debut of Mikhail Kalatozov – who would go on to electrify Soviet cinema with his Palme d’Or-winning The Cranes are FlyingSalt for Svanetia is a groundbreaking work of radical ethnographic documentary. Capturing the lives of the Svan, an isolated ethnic group in the Georgian mountains, Kalatozov’s clarion call for modernisation is both unforgiving and empathetic. Working with avant-garde luminaries Sergei Tretyakov and Viktor Shklovsky, the director deploys a dizzying range of avant-garde techniques in camerawork and editing that push the film beyond the confines of propaganda. Presented with a new score by Liza Kalandadze.

SALT FOR SVANETIA • მარილი სვანეთს
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Written by Sergei Tretyakov
Edited by Viktor Shklovsky
Cinematography by Shalva Gegelashvili
Music by Liza Kalandadze

Silent with Georgian intertitles and English subtitles

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Salt for Svanetia
  • Salt for Svanetia

    Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov • 1930 • USSR/Georgia

    The directorial debut of Mikhail Kalatozov – who would go on to electrify Soviet cinema with his Palme d’Or-winning The Cranes are Flying – Salt for Svanetia is a groundbreaking work of radical ethnographic documentary. Capturing the lives of t...

Extras

  • Introducing the Soviet Avant-Garde

    Klassiki curator Sam Goff introduces viewers to the fascinating world of the Soviet avant-garde. In the 1920s and ‘30s, filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov combined radical politics with groundbreaking innovations in film theory and practice to produce some of the most influential ...

  • Notes on Salt for Svanetia

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