The discovered film will allow for a more thorough examination of Ukrainian cinema
Students of film studies at the I.K. Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television have found and handed over to the Film Fund the movie "Karl Brunner," created at the Odesa film studio "Ukrainfilm" by directors Oleksiy Maslyukov and Mechyslava Maievska in 1936.
This was reported on their social media page by Dovzhenko-Center.
According to specialists, the film was stored in the archive of student works from the university, which the young film researchers are currently studying, organizing, and filming for their future documentary project.
Film experts mentioned that the discovered positive film copy currently lacks a soundtrack, but efforts to find it are ongoing.
It is worth noting that "Karl Brunner" (also known by the titles "Hold on, Karlusha!", "Stay strong, Karlusha!" and even "Karlusha, hold on!") was shot based on a script by Hungarian writer and film theorist Béla Balázs. Balázs also served as the artistic director of the film. Audiences first saw the film on October 13, 1936, in two versions – for adult and children's audiences. The film was well-received at the film festival in Donetsk. However, it received rather critical and politicized reviews in the Russian newspaper "Kino" and the Ukrainian magazine "Soviet Cinema."
Experts are convinced that the discovered film will allow for a more detailed study and a better understanding of Ukrainian cinema of the 1930s, particularly children's and adventure films of that time, along with their genre and propagandistic components.
Reminder, director Denis Tarasov's film "BozheVilni" received the audience award at the Warsaw International Film Festival in the "Feature Films" category.