Turksib | |
Director: | Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin |
Cinematography: | Boris Frantsisson Yevgeni Slavinsky |
Studio: | Vostokkino |
Country: | Soviet Union |
Language: | Russian |
Turksib (Russian: Турксиб) is a 1929 Soviet documentary film directed by Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin documenting the building of the Turkestan–Siberia Railway.[1] [2] 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 movement of machines.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5] [6]