Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff
Preface
Reader’s Note
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Chronology
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Bibliography
About the Author
Peter Rollberg is Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies, and International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He has been at GWU since 1991, after teaching at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and Duke University.
Rollberg has produced a well-researched second edition,
significantly expanding the first edition (2009) with 130 new
entries and an additional 100 new cross-references beyond the
original 500-plus entries. Designed to promote Russian and Soviet
cinema to scholars and the general public, this volume packs a
wealth of information on a diverse selection of directors,
screenwriters, actors, composers, designers, producers,
cinematographers, studios, genres, and scores of individual art
house and popular films into concise, one- to three-page entries. A
prefatory 12-page chronology helpfully identifies first film
screenings and feature-film productions, the founding of major
studios, and international award-winning films of the
now-independent former Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Lithuania, among others. The
author's meaty 18-page introduction explores the impact on cinema
of historical, cultural, and political events, including two World
Wars, Stalinization, and the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991. A
richly substantive bibliography of reference works, national
cinematographies, monographs, diaries, letters, memoirs, and
journals (largely in English, Russian, French, and German)
concludes this noteworthy resource to encourage further research
along this fascinating cinematic byway.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.
*CHOICE*
This hefty tome, in its second edition, is the definitive work on
this topic, as its covers all three major political periods in what
is now called Russia (including many liberated and independent
countries that once were part of Russia): the Tsarist period, the
Communist period, and the post-Communist state. The author grew up
in the Communist Soviet Union, and lived near the Gor'kii Studio
for Children's and Youth Films in Moscow. He even starred in the
1972 film Hurray! We Have Holidays! The dictionary begins with a
detailed introduction which divides Russian and Soviet cinema into
five eras: bourgeois commercial cinema (1896-1918); the birth of
Soviet cinema (1918-30); the transition to sound and implementation
of Stalinist values (1931-53); thaw, ‘stagnation,’ and final crisis
(1954-85); and the end of Soviet cinema and beyond (1986-2015). The
dictionary content itself is framed in the front by a substantial
chronology, and in the back with an extensive bibliography that
follows the five eras of the introduction. Overall, this reference
work is a fantastic addition to any college or university
library.
*American Reference Books Annual*
The book will prove to be an excellent resource for researchers of
Russian and Soviet cinema. It should be on the shelf of educational
establishments with film studies courses.
*s*
Now in its second edition, this handsome…hardcover tome introduces
readers to a higher level of appreciation of Soviet cinema and
marks a leap forward in the scholarship on the topic…. [Rollberg’s]
chief success – greater than his mini-biographical entries or
summaries of cinematic masterpieces, even – is his attention to the
cinemas of the former Soviet republics. In this regard, Rollberg’s
text is beyond competition…. Rollberg succeeds admirably. His
comprehensive and thoughtfully organized research, along with his
perspicuous prose, makes Historical Dictionary of Russian and
Soviet Cinema an essential reference tool for any Russian and
Soviet film maven.
*Film International*
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