Turksib (1929)

Original title

Турксиб

Directed by

Victor A. Turin

Genre

documentary film, silent film

Country

Soviet Union

Runtime

57 min

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 21 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This silent documentary follows the construction of a railway across the steppes and deserts of Central Asia. It shows the contrast between the traditional lives of local people and the arrival of modern machinery.

observationalstarkrhythmicindustrialepicausteremoody

What happens

Turksib (Russian: Турксиб) is a 1929 Soviet documentary film directed by Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin documenting the building of the Turkestan–Siberia Railway. The rail line stretched northeast from Tashkent to Almaty and on to Novosibirsk. The film contrasts the open desert and sand, with the order of rails and the movement of machines. The Turkic people ride horses and camels and rear sheep. This drama is set against the dry steppe as it is converted into a cotton-growing region. "Turksib" was particularly appreciated by the classic British and Canadian documentary filmmaker John Grierson, who prepared the English version of the picture. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the British Film Institute in 2011 as part of The Soviet Influence: From Turksib to Night Mail, with a newly commissioned soundtrack by Guy Bartell of British group Bronnt Industries Kapital. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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