ІЗМАЇЛ У РАДЯНСЬКІЙ КІНОДОКУМЕНТАЛІСТИЦІ 1940-Х – ПОЧАТКУ 1950-Х РР.
IZMAIL IN THE SOVIET DOCUMENTARY FILMS FROM THE 1940S TO THE EARLY 1950S

Summary/Abstract: The paper has examined Soviet propaganda’s image of Izmail by analyzing film documentaries from the 1940s to the early 1950s. The study has analyzed film documents stored in the Central State Audiovisual and Electronic Archives of Ukraine, in particular the documentaries “On the Danube” (1940), “Along the Soviet Danube” (1941), and “On the Banks of the Soviet Danube” (1945), and chronicle-documentary reports in Soviet newsreels. The article’s scientific novelty lies in exploring Soviet documentary films as a source for studying Izmail’s history while simultaneously examining them as instruments of Soviet politics of memory. The methodology comprises narrative, contextual, and semiotic analyses of audiovisual sources, historical-comparative, historical-systemic, and historical-typological methods. The author has identified the primary themes and events that attracted the attention of cinematographers and the symbolic markers that defined the image of Izmail and the region. It is revealed that the central themes of documentary films and reports during the Stalinist era included the historical ties of the region with Russian history, military victories on the Danube, such as the storming of Izmail fortress by Suvorov in 1790 and the Soviet “liberation” of Izmail in 1944, the building of socialism, and urban peaceful life in Soviet Izmail. These themes collectively formed a cohesive narrative that interpreted the past and present of Izmail and the Lower Danube region within the framework of the official ideology that justified the expansionist policies of the Stalinist regime. The article focuses on characterizing documentary reports that recorded commemorative and celebratory events, the activities of the Izmail Museum of Suvorov, and the dissemination of historical narratives among the city’s youth.

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