The History of the Civil War: Film Screening and Zoom Q&A

On July 31, Curzon Bloomsbury will host a film The History of the Civil War screening by Soviet director Dziga Vertov. The second film of the father of Soviet documentary cinema was thought to be lost but was later found and reconstructed by film historian Nikolai Izvolov in 2021. It covers the key events and figures of the Russian Civil War, including the personality of Leon Trotsky. Not surprisingly, after the first screening, the film immediately disappeared, becoming a vivid example of Soviet censorship. This film screening is a fantastic opportunity to see one of Vertov’s early works that preceded his avant-garde masterpieces such as Man with a Movie Camera (1929). A Q&A will follow the UK premiere screening on Sunday 31st July with film historian Nikolai Izvolov (via Zoom) hosted by filmmaker and critic Alex Barrett.