Dziga Vertov
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. 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.
Dziga Vertov | |
|---|---|
Vertov (a.k.a. David Kaufman) in 1913 | |
| Born | David Abelevich Kaufman 2 January 1896 Białystok, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire (now Poland) |
| Died | 12 February 1954 (aged 58) Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, cinema theorist |
| Years active | 1917–1954 |
| Notable work | Kino-Eye (1924) A Sixth Part of the World (1926) Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Enthusiasm (1931) |
| Spouse |
Elizaveta Svilova (m. 1923) |
| Family | Boris Kaufman (brother) Mikhail Kaufman (brother) |
In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll, critics voted Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera (1929) the eighth-greatest film ever made.
Vertov's younger brothers Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman were also noted filmmakers, as was his wife, Yelizaveta Svilova.