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28.05.2026 | Stasya Korotkova

1 Iakashvili, Paata. “The Film ‘Berikaoba-Keenoba.’” Kino, no. 1 (1977): 115–19.

2 Ne dlia menia pridet vesna (Pokhmel’e liubvi): Drama v 4 ch. Moscow: Tipografiia T. D. “N. Pomanskii, K. Zapol’skii i Ko,” 1916.

3 Komissarova, E. V. “Russkie kinolibretto 1908–1916 godov: problemy atributsii i istochnikovedeniia (po materialam Rossiiskoi natsional’noi biblioteki i Sankt-Peterburgskoi gosudarstvennoi Teatral’noi biblioteki).” In Zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskoi gosudarstvennoi Teatral’noi biblioteki, vol. 12–13, edited by A. G. Obradovich (St. Petersburg: Chistyi list, 2014), 49.

4 “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 5–6 (1918): n.p. In April 1918, the company “Kinoizdatel’skoe delo A. G. Taldykina” changed its owner to Aleksei Taldykin’s wife Vera Andreevna and was renamed as “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran V. A. Taldykinoi i K°.”

5 “Aktsionernoie Obshchestvo Merkazor [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 13–14 (1917), n.p.; “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 5–6 (1918), n.p.

6 “U zhizni v lapakh,” Kino-zhizn’, no. 1 (1922): 4; T. P. Lenngren, “‘…Zastrakhovana ot vlasti vremeni’: Posledniaia p’esa Knuta Gamsuna i neizvestnyi russkii kinostsenarii,” Voprosy literatury 5 (2018): 76–102.

New Films in the Database: Edition I

Compiled from multiple catalogues and filmographies, the Daydreams database continues to expand and engage new sources. This note provides an overview of some of the latest additions to Daydreams and the researchers’ work behind it. While some of the newly added films have not been discovered or formally annotated before, others simply come from the sources not previously covered by the database.

The film ბერიკაობა-ყეენობა / Berikaoba-Keenoba (1909, director Aleqsandre Tsutsunava) shot in Georgia by a Georgian crew is mentioned in various sources as an early documentary. However, in 1977, Georgian scholar Paata Iakashvili presented findings proving that the film was not a chronicle but in fact the first Georgian fiction film, a comedy with a script and a vast cast of actors. His article is not readily accessible, as it has not been digitized. The print-only version was identified in the National Library of Georgia in Tbilisi by Stasya Korotkova and may be consulted here.¹

Fig. 1. A page from Paata Iakashvili’s article featuring the only surviving photograph for ბერიკაობა-ყეენობა / Berikaoba-Keenoba (Aleqsandre Tsutsunava, 1909).

The drama Ne dlia menia pridet vesna / The Spring Will Not Come for Me (1916, director A. Ivonin) was apparently not advertised in the press. However, its printed handbill survived and can be found in the collection of the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg.² The existence of this handbill was referenced in a book chapter by Elena Komissarova.³ A libretto and titles of the film’s four parts contained in the handbill were made available by the Daydreams volunteer Tatiana Bolotnikova. 

Fig. 2. Front page of the handbill Ne dlia menia pridet vesna (Pokhmel’e liubvi): Drama v 4 ch. Moscow: Tipografiia T. D. “N. Pomanskii, K. Zapol’skii i Ko,” 1916.

The film Chert / The Devil (1918, director Vladimir Rudin) was identified by film historian Irina Zubatenko. In 2019, the I Vishnevskii readings conference hosted a screening of several unattributed film fragments from the Gosfilmofond’s collection. Zubatenko matched one of the fragments with promotional stills from the collection of the State Historical Museum captioned “stills from the film Chert. Taldykin’s firm. 1917.” She found a film of the same name advertised as one of the productions of V. A. Taldykina’s film company Ekran.⁴ With the help of Peter Bagrov, she established that the cast from the advertisement matches the cast featured on the stills. The film’s poster was found by Stasya Korotkova in the National Electronic Library (НЭБ) that further confirmed the film’s production as a completed one.

Fig. 3. Promotional still for Chert / The Devil (1918, director Vladimir Rudin). State Historical Museum.

Film archivist Alexandra Ustiuzhanina discovered advertisements of the film V lapakh zhizni (U zhizni v lapakh) / In the Clutches of Life (1918, director unknown) based on Knut Hamsun’s play of the same name. The advertisements were dated 1917 and 1918 and belonged to V. Vengerov i K⸰ and its successor company Merkazor.⁵ It is not clear whether the film had been released at the same time with this promotional campaign, but it has most probably been completed and shown in 1922; Ustiuzhanina found a film review and an article dedicated to an original film script by Evgenii Khokhlov based on the same play.⁶ 

Fig. 4. Advertisement mentioning the pre-production of U zhizni v lapakh. Aktsionernoie Obshchestvo Merkazor [Advertisement], Sine-Fono, nos. 13–14 (1917), n.p.

The Daydreams database team welcomes suggestions for new materials and sources not yet covered. They can be sent to contact@daydreams.museum.

Suggested Citation

Korotkova, Stasya. “New Films in the Database: Edition I.” In Daydreams Database: Cinema of the Russian Empire and Beyond, edited by Anna Kovalova, developed by Alexander Grebenkov, 2026. URL: https://daydreams.museum/en/blog/new-films-in-the-database-edition-i/.

New Films in the Database: Edition I

28.05.2026 | Stasya Korotkova

Compiled from multiple catalogues and filmographies, the Daydreams database continues to expand and engage new sources. This note provides an overview of some of the latest additions to Daydreams and the researchers’ work behind it. While some of the newly added films have not been discovered or formally annotated before, others simply come from the sources not previously covered by the database.

The film ბერიკაობა-ყეენობა / Berikaoba-Keenoba (1909, director Aleqsandre Tsutsunava) shot in Georgia by a Georgian crew is mentioned in various sources as an early documentary. However, in 1977, Georgian scholar Paata Iakashvili presented findings proving that the film was not a chronicle but in fact the first Georgian fiction film, a comedy with a script and a vast cast of actors. His article is not readily accessible, as it has not been digitized. The print-only version was identified in the National Library of Georgia in Tbilisi by Stasya Korotkova and may be consulted here.¹

Fig. 1. A page from Paata Iakashvili’s article featuring the only surviving photograph for ბერიკაობა-ყეენობა / Berikaoba-Keenoba (Aleqsandre Tsutsunava, 1909).

The drama Ne dlia menia pridet vesna / The Spring Will Not Come for Me (1916, director A. Ivonin) was apparently not advertised in the press. However, its printed handbill survived and can be found in the collection of the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg.² The existence of this handbill was referenced in a book chapter by Elena Komissarova.³ A libretto and titles of the film’s four parts contained in the handbill were made available by the Daydreams volunteer Tatiana Bolotnikova. 

Fig. 2. Front page of the handbill Ne dlia menia pridet vesna (Pokhmel’e liubvi): Drama v 4 ch. Moscow: Tipografiia T. D. “N. Pomanskii, K. Zapol’skii i Ko,” 1916.

The film Chert / The Devil (1918, director Vladimir Rudin) was identified by film historian Irina Zubatenko. In 2019, the I Vishnevskii readings conference hosted a screening of several unattributed film fragments from the Gosfilmofond’s collection. Zubatenko matched one of the fragments with promotional stills from the collection of the State Historical Museum captioned “stills from the film Chert. Taldykin’s firm. 1917.” She found a film of the same name advertised as one of the productions of V. A. Taldykina’s film company Ekran.⁴ With the help of Peter Bagrov, she established that the cast from the advertisement matches the cast featured on the stills. The film’s poster was found by Stasya Korotkova in the National Electronic Library (НЭБ) that further confirmed the film’s production as a completed one.

Fig. 3. Promotional still for Chert / The Devil (1918, director Vladimir Rudin). State Historical Museum.

Film archivist Alexandra Ustiuzhanina discovered advertisements of the film V lapakh zhizni (U zhizni v lapakh) / In the Clutches of Life (1918, director unknown) based on Knut Hamsun’s play of the same name. The advertisements were dated 1917 and 1918 and belonged to V. Vengerov i K⸰ and its successor company Merkazor.⁵ It is not clear whether the film had been released at the same time with this promotional campaign, but it has most probably been completed and shown in 1922; Ustiuzhanina found a film review and an article dedicated to an original film script by Evgenii Khokhlov based on the same play.⁶ 

Fig. 4. Advertisement mentioning the pre-production of U zhizni v lapakh. Aktsionernoie Obshchestvo Merkazor [Advertisement], Sine-Fono, nos. 13–14 (1917), n.p.

The Daydreams database team welcomes suggestions for new materials and sources not yet covered. They can be sent to contact@daydreams.museum.

Suggested Citation

Korotkova, Stasya. “New Films in the Database: Edition I.” In Daydreams Database: Cinema of the Russian Empire and Beyond, edited by Anna Kovalova, developed by Alexander Grebenkov, 2026. URL: https://daydreams.museum/en/blog/new-films-in-the-database-edition-i/.

 

1 Iakashvili, Paata. “The Film ‘Berikaoba-Keenoba.’” Kino, no. 1 (1977): 115–19.

2 Ne dlia menia pridet vesna (Pokhmel’e liubvi): Drama v 4 ch. Moscow: Tipografiia T. D. “N. Pomanskii, K. Zapol’skii i Ko,” 1916.

3 Komissarova, E. V. “Russkie kinolibretto 1908–1916 godov: problemy atributsii i istochnikovedeniia (po materialam Rossiiskoi natsional’noi biblioteki i Sankt-Peterburgskoi gosudarstvennoi Teatral’noi biblioteki).” In Zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskoi gosudarstvennoi Teatral’noi biblioteki, vol. 12–13, edited by A. G. Obradovich (St. Petersburg: Chistyi list, 2014), 49.

4 “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 5–6 (1918): n.p. In April 1918, the company “Kinoizdatel’skoe delo A. G. Taldykina” changed its owner to Aleksei Taldykin’s wife Vera Andreevna and was renamed as “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran V. A. Taldykinoi i K°.”

5 “Aktsionernoie Obshchestvo Merkazor [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 13–14 (1917), n.p.; “Kinoizdatel’stvo Ekran [Advertisement],” Sine-Fono, nos. 5–6 (1918), n.p.

6 “U zhizni v lapakh,” Kino-zhizn’, no. 1 (1922): 4; T. P. Lenngren, “‘…Zastrakhovana ot vlasti vremeni’: Posledniaia p’esa Knuta Gamsuna i neizvestnyi russkii kinostsenarii,” Voprosy literatury 5 (2018): 76–102.