Background
DOVZHENKO, Aleksandr was born on September 11, 1894 in settlement Sosnitsy, former Chernigov Province. Son of a peasant.
DOVZHENKO, Aleksandr was born on September 11, 1894 in settlement Sosnitsy, former Chernigov Province. Son of a peasant.
1914 graduate Glukhov Teachers’ Institute. Studied at Kiev Business Institute, Kiev Academy of Arts and Berlin Art College.
Worked briefly as a teacher. At one time was an artist, then a Soviet diplomat in Berlin. In 1926, turned to Film-making in Kiev.
His First film effort was the script for VasiaReformator, which he also co-directed. Became internationally known for his three films Zvenigora, 1928, Arsenal, 1929, and Zemlia, 1930. Although Zemlia was attacked at the time by Stalinist critics for not being revolutionary enough, it glorified Stalin’s collectivisation campaign in the Ukraine.
In 1939, made Shchors, another propaganda film about the Red Army during the Civil War (Stalin Prize). In 1949, he made Michurin in colour (2nd Stalin Prize). His war documentaries are less noteworthy.
Taught at the Moscow Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, 1949, and in 1955, when he was already ill. After his death the Film studio in Kiev was renamed in his honour.