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

Oh, There at the Market...

Videos and films

ID:
62504
Place
Shabalyniv village (Chernihiv region)
Date:
1991
Genre:
Amateur film
Technique:
16 mm film
Duration:
00:13:40 min
Color:
color
Sound:
Magnetic tape
Creator
Dmytro Kozel
Collection
Volnytsia People's Film Studio
Description
The film features an amateur documentary report on the grand opening of the Peremoha collective farm market:

1) 00:00:15 - 00:02:23 — The head of the collective farm, Hryhorii Ivanovych, cuts the ribbon at the market entrance. Villagers arrive with their families. A harmonica player performs near a painted fence featuring Cossack Mamai. Men push a cart full of wicker baskets, while a truck loaded with bottled drinks drives into the market. The head of the collective farm addresses a crowd of villagers. Folk songs and ditties are layered over the visuals.

2) 00:02:24 - 00:07:11 — The market signboard of the collective farm is shown. Vendors near their vehicles unload live piglets from bags. A butcher removes a crate of goods from a truck and sets it on the counter. Musicians with wind instruments arrive. Shoppers examine piglets, baskets, and rakes. Crowds gather at stalls as vendors weigh and sell eggs and honey. Customers eagerly thrust jars forward, quarrelling as they wait their turn. Barbecue is prepared. Bottled drinks are sold straight from the truck. Buyers walk through the market with baskets and crates of bottles. People chat along the road near the market, where cars and bicycles are parked along fences. One buyer selects tomatoes.

A voice-over in poetic, folkloric style describes the variety of goods available at the market. Also overlaid — though not synchronized — are a conversation between a buyer and a seller, a buyer’s words of gratitude to the head of the collective farm, and exchanges between villagers. Ditties continue off-screen.

3) 00:07:12 - 00:11:44 — Borshchovyk. A ceremonial gathering is held for Village Day. A poem by A. Malyshko is recited in voiceover. The head of the collective farm gives a speech, announcing the farm’s productivity statistics. The local school built in 1989, an ambulance, women laying bricks, and children playing in the kindergarten yard. A monument to Vira Yevstakhivna Bohdanivska-Popova, a chemist and researcher, is shown. A musical ensemble performs. Close-ups of children in the crowd. A monument to Lenin. Children at the kindergarten run toward the camera, playing with each other and on the playground. A voice-over commentary reflects on the village’s consumer needs. The soundtrack includes Oleg Gazmanov’s Esaul and a traditional folk song.

4) 00:11:48 - 00:13:23 — Women harvest cucumbers, placing them into wicker baskets and then onto a cart. Others return from collective farm work on bicycles, baskets perched on their handlebars. The voice-over concludes that life in the village will be beautiful if everyone fulfills their duties to the collective farm. A folk song plays.

The second audio track serves as an editing cue sheet for the film. It provides a frame-by-frame description of people, objects, actions, and editing plans. The narration is emotional and humorous, enriched with sound imitations and commentary. In several instances, Dmytro Kozel mentions the names of the people involved in the footage.
Language:
Russian, Ukrainian
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