Dziga Vertov

Dziga Vertov
Vertov (a.k.a. David Kaufman) in 1913
Born
David Abelevich Kaufman

(1896-01-02)2 January 1896
Died12 February 1954(1954-02-12) (aged 58)
Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
NationalitySoviet
Occupation(s)Film director, cinema theorist
Years active1917–1954
Notable workKino-Eye (1924)
A Sixth Part of the World (1926)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Enthusiasm (1931)
Spouse
(m. 1923)
FamilyBoris Kaufman (brother)
Mikhail Kaufman (brother)

Dziga Vertov (Russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, Russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; 2 January 1896 [O.S. 21 December 1895] – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet pioneer documentary film and newsreel director, as well as a cinema theorist.[1] His filming practices and theories influenced the cinéma vérité style of documentary movie-making and the Dziga Vertov Group, a radical film-making cooperative which was active from 1968 to 1972. He was a member of the Kinoks collective, with Elizaveta Svilova and Mikhail Kaufman.

In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll, critics voted Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera (1929) the eighth-greatest film ever made.[2]

Vertov's younger brothers Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman were also noted filmmakers, as was his wife, Yelizaveta Svilova.[3] He worked with Boris Kaufman and cinematographer Mikhail Kaufman on his most famous film Man with a Movie Camera.

  1. ^ Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 731–735. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
  2. ^ "Sight & Sound Revises Best-Films-Ever Lists". studiodaily. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  3. ^ McClane, Betsy A. (2013). A New History of Documentary Film (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury. pp. 42, 47.