10 great Soviet avant-garde film posters

The Bolsheviks knew the value of the new cinema and made it one of the most important forms of entertainment in the new country.

The leader of the 1917 revolution, Vladimir Lenin, considered cinema "the most important of the arts." The early avant-garde Russian cinema was revolutionary in itself and developed quite rapidly. The Soviets built movie theaters across the country so that everyone could have access to films.

Here are some great movie posters from the early 20th century that are works of art in their own right.

10 PHOTOS

1. This experimental film is now considered a must-see classic. It really was a fresh take on cinema - at the very beginning of the film, the credits on the screens say that this is a "cinematic communication of visual phenomena" without subtitles, script, or theater. Both posters play on the film's main metaphor - the camera as the "cinematic eye" at the center of everything.

2. Based on a short story by Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg, this film is about what the Soviets cared about - the struggle of the lower classes for freedom. This is the story of the Parisian mason Louis during the French Commune and the siege of Paris in 1870 and the proclamation of the Third Republic. The design of the poster comes from Louis' constant companion, his pipe. Instead of smoke, the events of those revolutionary times (and film footage) are heard from his pipe.

3. Galya lost her husband during the Civil War in Russia, but for many years remains faithful to him, even though she meets a new, good man. This film is the result of the sexual revolution of the time and a new vision of marriage.

4. This is a documentary about the construction of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway, known as Turksib. It was a very important project that was supposed to supply cotton from Central Asia to the Soviet Union. Incredible footage shows how amazing it is to see a train hurtling through the desert...

5. Iosif Poselsky was a true master of Soviet documentaries. His works praised the Red Army, May Day, Soviet youth, and even metallurgy... The film is a hymn to the Spartakiad, a socialist sports extravaganza and a communist version of the Olympic Games, in which the USSR did not participate.

6. The first version of the film was censored because the depiction of the Soviet bureaucracy was deemed too satirical. The director reworked the material and focused on "sabotage", "sabotage" and "counter-revolutionary sabotage" - things that were important for the Soviet government.

7. Shortly before emigrating to the United States and a Hollywood career, Anna Sten was a leading actress in Soviet films, including this one. This comedy is about a stylish young Muscovite who helps a young provincial student find a place to live in Moscow.

8. The title of this film is also known as Five Minutes That Shook the World. We are talking about the day of the death of Vladimir Lenin when all work and production around the world (as shown in the film) stopped for five minutes.

9. The golden classics of Soviet cinema remain glorified by film critics to this day. Made in 1925, it marks the very first Russian revolution of 1905 and the revolt of the crew of the battleship Potemkin.

10. Another timeless masterpiece by Eisenstein is dedicated to the events of the Bolshevik revolution in October 1917.