Esfir Shub facts for kids
Esfir Shub (born March 16, 1894 – died September 21, 1959) was a very important Soviet filmmaker and editor. She was a pioneer in both regular movies and documentaries. She is best known for her three films: Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927), The Great Road (1927), and The Russia of Nicholas II and Leo Tolstoy (1928).
Many people say Esfir Shub created the "compilation film." This is a type of movie made by putting together old film clips and footage. She was famous for her new ways of editing and using film from archives.
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Early Life and Education
Esfir Shub was born on March 16, 1894, in a small town called Surazh. This town was in what is now Ukraine. Her family was Jewish and owned land. Her father, Ilya Roshal, was a pharmacist. Esfir's mother died when she was very young. She also had one brother.
Esfir's family was not rich, but they were not poor either. Before the Russian Revolution, she moved to Moscow. In the mid-1910s, she started studying literature there. She went to the Institute for Women’s Higher Education. While studying, she became interested in the revolutionary ideas that were popular among young students.
Filmmaking Career
After moving to Moscow, Esfir Shub joined the exciting world of Soviet art. She was especially interested in constructivist theatre. This was a style of art that used simple, geometric shapes and often had a social message.
Shub edited many different kinds of films. One of her first big jobs was re-editing Charlie Chaplin's 1916 film Carmen. This was the first Chaplin film ever shown in the Soviet Union.
In 1918, she worked as a private secretary for Vsevolod Meyerhold. He was a famous theatre director. She also worked with Meyerhold and the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky on theatre projects. During this time, she joined a group called the Left Front of the Arts (LEF). This group believed art should serve the revolution.
Working at Goskino
In 1922, Shub started her film career at Goskino. This was the main film company owned by the Soviet government. She worked as an editor. Her job was to check foreign films that were brought into the country. She made sure these films were "suitable" for Soviet audiences. This often meant cutting out parts that the government didn't like.
At Goskino, she worked with another famous filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein. They re-edited films like Fritz Lang’s Dr Mabuse for Soviet viewers.
Her intense work at Goskino helped her develop her unique style of filmmaking. She became known for her "journalistic" approach. Her editing methods had a big impact on both Dziga Vertov and Eisenstein. These were two of the most important filmmakers of her time.
The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927)
In 1927, Esfir Shub released her first documentary film. It was called Padenie dinastii Romanovykh, which means The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. She was asked to make this film to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. It was also meant to be the first visual record of the Russian Revolution.
The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty is one of Shub’s most famous films. Many film experts call it the first "compilation film" or an example of "Soviet montage". The film was originally called February. Esfir Shub worked with screenwriter Mark Tseitlin on this documentary. It focused on the end of the Russian monarchy.
The movie was made from old film clips and footage that Shub carefully found and saved. In 1926, Shub traveled to Leningrad to find film for her movie. She spent two months looking through more than 60,000 meters of film. Much of it was damaged. She chose 5,200 meters to take back to Moscow.
The film covers the years from 1912 to 1917. It shows events before, during, and after World War I. It ends with the October Revolution. Film expert Alla Gadassik says that without Shub's work, much of this old footage might have been lost forever. Shub's ideas about compilation films were very important in the United States in the 1930s and during World War II. Historians Jack C. Ellis and Betsy A. McLane say that "nothing like Shub’s films had existed before them." They believe her work is still among the best examples of using old footage.
Later Works and Influence
In 1927, Shub wrote an article called "Rabota Montazhnits." This means "The Work of Montagesses" (women editors). She wrote this article a few months after The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty came out. At that time, Shub was trying to get more credit for directing her film.
In 1932, Shub helped create the first Soviet documentary that had sound. It was called Sponsor of Electrification.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she mostly worked as an editor. She also spent time writing her memoirs. These were stories about her life and her filmmaking techniques. She also wrote a script called Women (1933–34). This script looked at the roles of women throughout history. The film was never made, but the script shows Shub's interest in women's rights.
Personal Life
Esfir Shub was married two times. She had a daughter named Anna with her first husband, Isaac Vladimirovich Shub. After their divorce, she married Aleksei Gan. He was also a filmmaker and published a film magazine called Kino-Fot. Esfir Shub passed away on September 21, 1959, in Moscow.
Memoirs and Legacy
Later in her career, Esfir Shub wrote her own memoirs. They were titled Zhizn Moya — Kinematograf, which means My Life — Cinema. You can find more information about these memoirs in an article by Vlada Petric. It's called “Esther Shub: Cinema is My Life.”
In her memoirs, Shub wrote about many films that were never made. She also wrote about films that the government gave to other filmmakers who were more popular at the time. She was very open about how hard it was for her to earn respect as a female filmmaker. This was especially true in the Soviet film industry, which was mostly run by men.
See also
In Spanish: Esfir Shub para niños
