Urban Media Archive
Укр
Center for Urban History
6 Bohomoltsia Str. Lviv 79005, Ukraine

Summer in Pokoshychi

Videos and films

ID:
62506
Place
Pokoshychi village (Chernihiv region)
Date:
1984
Genre:
Amateur film
Technique:
16 mm film
Duration:
00:16:53 min
Color:
black and white
Creator
Dmytro Kozel
Collection
Volnytsia People's Film Studio
Description
The film presents an amateur documentary report about the harvest season in the village of Pokoshychi:

1) 00:00:15 - 00:00:58 -— A summer thunderstorm rolls in. Heavy rain falls over houses and vegetable gardens. A rooster struts in a yard. A GAZ-53 truck drives through puddles along a rural road. Ears of grain sway in a field. The song Starry Summer (Звёздное лето) (1978) plays in the background.

2) 00:00:59 - 00:03:02 — Tillage work is underway using agricultural machinery. Workers converse and observe the process. A man stands near a cart, watching the fieldwork. A truck delivers bags of fertilizer. Mechanics inspect equipment. Sowing continues. Behind the scenes, the song Khliborobska Velychalna (Хліборобська Величальна) plays.

3) 00:03:03 - 00:08:46 — The head of the collective farm, Petro Yukhymovych Solovey, inspects seedlings in the field. The slopes near the Desna River are shown. Boys ride horses. Workers travel in the back of a truck. Mowers work in the field alongside Solovey. A woman cooks in a cauldron. A tractor driver uses a rake and windrower to clear a field. Boys on horseback help pull hay. The Kyrgyzstan-2 combine harvester is in operation. A truck loaded with hay is ferried across the river by Solovey and his workers. Collective farm workers stack bales of hay. Cows rest in a stall. Solovey speaks with Rubanyk and shares a meal in the field with the mowers. A woman cleans field utensils. A mower sharpens the scythe. Horses graze nearby. Storks nest in a tree. Folk songs Oh, In The Field There Is a Well (Ой у полі криниченька) and Outside The Village (Поза селом) are performed by a choir.

4) 00:08:47 - 00:10:41 — Harvesting work continues. Machines process corn. Carts carry sacks of flour. Solovey inspects the corn harvest. Buckwheat fields. Cooks prepare food. A commentary by Petro Solovey highlights the collective farm’s achievements, accompanied by the song And My Sweetheart Wants Varenyky (А мій милий вареничків хоче).

5) 00:10:42 - 00:16:44 — Solovey inspects the condition of the pig farm. Cows and sheep graze in the fields. A title page of Petro Solovey’s dissertation, The Influence of Diet Structure on the Productivity of Prekos Sows, is shown. In his office, Solovey works with a calculator and leads a management meeting. An accountant calculates the collective farm’s profits. Scenes of the construction of new collective farm buildings and a village store follow. Inside the store, shelves are stocked and a saleswoman serves customers. Solovey speaks with a veteran. Images of the natural landscape of Polissia are interspersed. A ceremonial school assembly for the Day of Knowledge features speeches from the administration and Solovey. In the final scenes, graduating students greet the sunrise in a field. The song Bread is the Head of All (Хлеб - всему голова) plays in the background.

The film is accompanied by a voice-over narration by Halyna (Kozel) Antonenko. Literary design by V. Nikitin.

The second audio track serves as an editing cue sheet, offering a frame-by-frame description of people, objects, actions, and editing plans. At times, the narration is humorous.
Language:
Russian, Ukrainian
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