Bukovyna, Ukrainian Land
About Bukovyna, Ukrainian Land
After the Soviet Union took Northern Bukovina from Romania in June 1940, this Russian-language newsreel introduces the territory. It sketches the states that had ruled Bukovina, then shows people meeting Red Army troops. Later passages cover hand labor on farms, raftsmen and loggers, factories held by foreign owners and local rich men, a wedding, carvers and musicians, and the city of Chernivtsi.
Cast & crew
More about Bukovyna, Ukrainian Land
Made on Stalin's order, right after the June 1940 annexation. Yuliya Solntseva, in her first film as a director, shares writing and direction with Oleksandr Dovzhenko. Ivan Shekker was the cameraman. The Ukrainian Wikipedia notes that Solntseva, a Muscovite and Dovzhenko's wife, had not lived among Bukovinians.
Themes
Background
Northern Bukovina passed from the Kingdom of Romania to the Soviet Union in June 1940. The film's job, as the Russian Wikipedia puts it, was to show the new territory to people elsewhere in the USSR.
In film history
It is a Soviet account of the annexation, built around peasant labor, a wedding, and Chernivtsi, and it treats Romanian rule as national oppression.
Making
The picture was assigned to Solntseva as director and screenwriter. Dovzhenko is credited beside her. Shooting was in the newly annexed region, with Chernivtsi given a large share of the reel.
Look
Ivan Shekker shot the film on location in Chernivtsi and in the village of Toporivtsi.
Music
Borys Liatoshynsky and Dmytro Klebanov composed the score. The commentary is spoken in Russian.
Preservation
A Wikimedia Commons copy runs 30 minutes and 5 seconds.
Notes
- Ukrainian title: Буковина — земля українська. Russian title: Буковина — земля украинская.
- The Chernivtsi section shows the metropolitan's residence, a synagogue, and the city theater.
- Folk artists named in the Russian Wikipedia article include the poet Domka Botushanska and the muralist Volodymyr Kokoyachuk.
- The narration says local Ukrainians had little access to higher education under Romanian rule.
- Kinoglaz lists the film in a Dovzhenko cycle at the Cinémathèque française in 2026.
Scenes
- Residents meet Soviet officers as the Red Army enters Northern Bukovina.
- A Bukovinian wedding is shown beside the work of carvers and musicians.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Буковина — земля Украинская)
