Reel 1: Glumov’s diary. SME falls down the stairs wearing a pope costume during shooting for Bronenosec Potëmkin. Two premieres of Bronenosec Potëmkin (Moscow and Lvov). Shooting of General’naja linija (the Konstantinovka village). Shooting for Oktjabr’ (4 scenes).

Reel 2: Tissé working on Frauennot – Frauenglück (1930). Excerpts from Everyday (directed by Hans Richter, Gb, 1929), in which SME dances in the role of Bobby. Moscow, filmmakers conference (1935). Arrival of May Lan Fan. “Good company: SME and Chinese actress Batterfly By”. Clips from Bežin lug (two shots). Mosfilm: SME with French filmmakers. Awarding of the Order of Lenin for Aleksandr Nevsky (1939). SME and Romm on the set of Mechta (1940, excerpt from Sergei Eisenstein, directed by Vassilij Katanian. National Awards for Aleksandr Nevsky (1941). SME and his students at VGIK.

Reel 3: Jewish conference, the Jewish anti-fascist committee signs a protest letter against fascism, SME speaks (1941). Alma- Ata : preparation and shooting for Ivan Groznyj (1942).


Reel 4: SME in the Netherlands.

Reel 5: SME’s apartment.


Reel 6: SME on his death bed, his funeral.


Reel 7: SME at VGIK. VOKS Evening, reception for Anglo-American filmmakers. Plaque commemorating SME and Pudovkin at Kazakhfilm (Alma-Ata).

Naum Kleiman: I’m the one who gathered these materials together, looking for them in various places. Péra Attachéva had kept some reels in a metal cabinet in her apartment. Among the other things, there was footage in which Eisenstein, dressed as a cleric, falls down the stairs during the filming of Potemkin. Legend has it that Eisenstein played the role of the pope. But it’s not true. There was a professional actor, but he was afraid of hurting his back by falling down the stairs. Eisenstein, who was quite nimble at that time, acted as his double.
Eisenstein at Mosfilm, surrounded by French directors, comes from Péra. It never appeared in any newsreels because it’s too informal. It was probably filmed by some cameraman who was doing a reportage on the French directors’ official visit to Mosfilm, but Eisenstein behaved too liberally, kissing and hugging people.

Natalia Noussinova: Why did Eisenstein become a member of the “Jewish Conference”? It seems strange to see him alongside writer Erenbourg, actor Michoels, poet Marchak, my grandfather Isaak Noussinov (literature professor and historian), and the other members of the Jewish anti-fascist committee, which met in 1941 to sign a letter of protest against fascism…

Naum Kleiman: It seems that it was Stalin’s idea to add Eisenstein and Alexei Tolstoy. On one hand, it was a way to say that the Russian intelligentsia, represented by Alexei Tolstoy, stood beside the Jews in their appeal, on the other hand, Eisenstein was always considered a Jew by party officials. He himself said that it was true in part. The acts of the conference, entitled “Appeal by Jews Worldwide”, were published in a censored edition. According to the original text held in the archives, Eisenstein said in his speech: “Here, I represent the Russian intelligentsia, despite the fact that one fourth of the blood that runs in my veins is that same blood that Germans like to spill more than any other”. It seems that Eisenstein’s grandfather was a Jew who converted to the Orthodox religion and then married a Swedish woman: they gave birth to the director’s father Mikhail Ossipovitch, who married a Russian woman. Further on there is footage filmed at Alma-Ata in 1942, on the set of Ivan the Terrible. Eisenstein is in the costume shop watching his assistant director Boris Svešnikov getting made up as Pimen. That was before he decided to give the role of Pimen to Mgebrov. I found this piece in the Krasnogorsk archives. The footage of Eisenstein’s old apartment and of his funeral belonged to Péra. She made a film dedicated to the memory of Eisenstein in collaboration with Sergei Jutkevič. These scenes were cut out of the film, so they were left at her house. Eisenstein’s apartment is the “Potylikha”, the Mosfilm house. The footage was filmed on 12 February 1948, the day after Eisenstein’s death. He is on his deathbed. As soon as Péra heard the news, she rushed to his house and had a film crew come too. They began shooting without asking the authorities for permission, something rare at that time, only possible in the case of extremely important events. Péra had Eisenstein filmed on his deathbed while Tychler painted his portrait.

Natalia Noussinova: At the end of this cut, we see the laying of a plaque commemorating Ejzenštejn and Pudovkin at Kazakhfilm. This series of episodes was edited in a casual order, but it nonetheless seems symbolic: it’s like a postscript that comes full circle in this homage to the memory of a great director.