PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN FILM INDUSTRY IN THE PERIOD OF NEP

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the formation and development of the film industry of Ukraine in the 1920’s and the processes that influenced its formation. On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of a wide source base and the involvement of little-known archival sources and periodical materials in the scientific circulation, the functioning of the Ukrainian film industry, the peculiarities of its development are reconstructed, and the factors that influenced the formation and development of Ukrainian cinematography are determined. The fundamental directions of the development of the Ukrainian film industry are singled out: 1) the formation of the public administration system; 2) formation of film production conditions; 3) the influence of industrial enterprise trust processes on the development of the film industry. The Bolshevik government paid great attention to the cinematography, and more specifically to the possibilities of its influence on the masses. Therefore, as soon as they occupied another city, they immediately took control of cinemas and cinematographers. Since 1918, the formation of special divisions began, which were supposed to correct all cinematographic processes. The most important factor, thanks to which it was possible to expand the production of films relatively widely, was the strengthening of the material and technical base of Ukrainian cinematography and, above all, mastering the production of its own film production. The property received by VUFKU was in a catastrophic state: cinemas were destroyed, equipment was taken away, furniture was stolen or taken away. Rental warehouses were cemeteries of broken film, film studios were destroyed and did not operate. The transition to a new economic policy was supposed to mark a transition to other methods and ways of managing state industry, which included the film industry. In this study, the main focus is on the analysis of the actions of state institutions aimed at implementing other methods and ways of managing state industry, as well as the normative legal acts adopted by the Ukrainian government to regulate and improve the work of its governing body – the All-Ukrainian Photo-Cinema Administration (VUFKU). The article reconstructs the most important conflicts related to the public administration of the industry and the impact of these processes on the development of the Ukrainian film industry.