The Kinoks (Russian: Киноки, romanized: kino-oki, lit. 'cinema-eyes') were a collective of Soviet filmmakers in the 1920s, consisting of Dziga Vertov, Elizaveta Svilova and Mikhail Kaufman.

According to Annette Michelson, Georges Sadoul states the collective was founded in 1922 [1] by Svilova, Vertov and Kaufman, and the painter Belyaev was a fourth member.[2] However, in 1923 Svilova wrote an open letter to the journal LEF applying for admission to the Council of Three.[3] Scholars have interpreted this as a publicity stunt "to provide exposure of their work and to raise awareness of their commitment to documentary cinema" [4][5] rather than an actual application, since Svilova had already been working with Vertov and Kaufman for several years. From 1922 to 1923 Vertov, Kaufman, and Svilova published a number of manifestos in avant-garde journals which clarified the Kinoks' positions vis-à-vis other leftist groups.

The Kinoks argued strongly for documentary cinema and the use of candid cameras and filming workers instead of using actors.[6] They published a series of manifestos and statements in LEF, an avant-garde cinema journal.

The most acclaimed work is Man with a Movie Camera (1929).[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Michelson, Annette (1984). Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov. University of California Press. p. xxiv. ISBN 0-520-05630-2.
  2. ^ Michelson, Annette (1984). Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov. University of California Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-520-05630-2.
  3. ^ Svilova, Elizaveta (1923). "V sovet troikh. Zaiavlenie". LEF (4): 220–221.
  4. ^ Penfold, Christopher (2013). Elizaveta Svilova and Soviet Documentary Film. Southampton: PhD dissertation, University of Southampton. p. 16.
  5. ^ Molcard, Eva. "Elizaveta Svilova". Women Film Pioneers Project. Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  6. ^ Michelson, Annette (1984). Kino-eye : the writings of Dziga Vertov. University of California Press. p. xxiv. ISBN 0-520-05630-2.
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