Our Country is the Soviet Union
Our Country is the Soviet Union
"Jewish tourists from the United States and Canada return to the land of their childhood. They go to Moscow, Kiev, and Vilnius with special interest in the life of Jewish people. Woven into the picture is the history of pre-Revolution slave life with pogroms and massacres. Following the revolution, Jews, entitled to the full rights of all citizens, were given opportunity for a new life in a separate territory in which to make their home--Birobidjan. We see the beginnings and the contemporary: developing industry, manufacture and use of harvest combines, a growing chicken and egg production, etc. There are sequences on contemporary Jewish life and many well-satisfied, ordinary citizens as well as the famed David Oistrakh and Lev Landau. Lenin is seen speaking out against anti-Semitism." Religion. Propaganda. 01:00:00:- Nice LS of a train pulling into an urban station; MS of a mother and daughter in an emotional embrace; MS of the mother, daughter and father crying and hugging tightly (the parents have just returned from Israel). Cut to CUs of the father and his newly reunited family sitting at home, talking about the sad state of Jewish affairs in Israel, and how happy he is to be home in Russia. TITLE CARD. EST shots of MOSCOW, landmarks and general urban life (LS's of streets filled with passenger cars; MS's of pedestrians filing along sidewalks; CU's of senior citizen tourists taking pictures). 01:03:29:- MS of famed Soviet violinist LEONID KOGAN (sp) sitting at an outdoor cafe with a female friend, playing with a puppet; cut to CU of the maestro playing his instrument. Cut to newsreel of a young (and large browed) Leonid conducting a children's orchestra. MS of Leonid teaching a Chinese prodigy at the MOSCOW CONSERVATORY (very talented girl). CU of Leonid playing the violin. LS performance by ballerina MAYA PLYZETZKIA (sp). MS performance by pianist EMILLE GYLETZ (sp). MS of great Soviet scientist DAVID LANDAU reading through papers at a desk. MS Retired Soviet General DAVID DRAJOONSKY (sp), veteran of WWII. Stills of Soviet engineers at work, on assembly lines and in labs. More shots of urban street life (cars and pedestrians). CU's of a portable Dictaphone, zoom out to MS of several older citizens sitting around a table and talking about their family reunion experiences (in CUs, as well). 01:11:34:- Stills of engineering students learning. MS's and CU's of men in a science lab, playing with experimental low-wave lasers. MS's and CU's of medical students leaning in an auditorium; MS's and CU's of professor (retired pediatrician) giving a child a check-up, students watching on. INT shots of a combine factory: CU's of machinists and engineers at work; LS of combines rolling out of factory, into street; wide panning LS of combines working in a grain field. CU's of farm workers (male and female) smiling and working on a collective farm; MS's of milkmaids, grain harvesters and potato pickers at work. 01:17:12:- CU's of Soviet newspapers (in Russian and Hebrew), declaring that the Jews could create their own national area in a vacant land in the Far East. Archival newsreel: Jews settling into the area, making it their own (Jewish autonomous region shortly after the solidification of Soviet power). "Present day" newsreel: the capital of the Jewish autonomous region as people mill about the streets, enjoying life; construction workers on top of a building; female factory workers; machinists in a factory; CUs of newspapers rolling off the presses; and men gathered in a meeting hall. Montage of a foundry being built on a remote mountain. LS's of the Brusk Hydroelectric Station. MS interview with the station's chief engineer, followed by stills of him working at other stations. CU interviews of young Brusk engineers. 01:24:46:- LS's of Soviet monuments commemorating the tremendous loss of innocent life during WWII, CU's of people honoring this (weeping and placing flowers). CU's of people in a church, honoring the deceased. EST shots of Babi Yar ravine; CU's of people honoring those murdered there. MS's and CU's of people touring through downtown Kiev. MS's of a Jewish service, the rabbi singing, reading from the Torah. 01:30:13:- MS's of several boys lying on a beach in the Crimean. Montage of kids attending Camp Artek, an international socialist summer camp for children (good shots of opening ceremonies). EST shots of Kiev territories. MS's of people walking on sidewalks. MSs of people in an art gallery. MS's of people in a bookstore, perusing the racks. MS's of Soviet poets and linguists sitting and talking about Jewish literature. 01:36:36:- CU of woman's hands on a piano, tilt U to CU of PAULINA EINLINDERS (sp) singing, people watching on. CU's of posters for concert performances, in Russian and Hebrew. MS's and CU's of Soviets performing a Jewish play (lots of singing and dancing); good shots of the actors on stage, as well as backstage, getting their makeup put on. 01:39:53:- a meeting of Progressive Israeli personalities, at the invitation of the Soviet Peace Committee: RUTH LUBITSCH (polit-bureau member of the Communist Party Central Committee), MITZAK EIDLEBERG (sp), JAMES ROSENTHALL, NATHAN YELLENMORE (sp), JACOB RIFTEN (sp), and Professor DAN MURRUNG (sp). They talk about the state of affairs among Soviet Jews. 01:43:55:- Dec 1971, a group of Soviet journalists visited Vienna. EST shots of one of Vienna's oldest districts (nice shots of political buildings and shopping strips). Panning MS of several men, Jewish refugees from Israel, lying on crude cots in a room; CU's of the men talking, wanting to return to their homeland of the Soviet Union (also talk about Zionism in Israel). CU's and ECU's of applications and letters by Israeli refugees wanting to return to the Soviet Union. MS's of politicians speaking against Israel's Zionism. MS's of Soviet people walking on sidewalks. CU's of factory workers (male and female) at work.