Born in Tambov in 1899 and died in Moscow in 1970, Lev Kuleshov was one of the first teachers and theorists of Soviet cinema. At the State Film School he led a workshop that included Pudovkin and Boris Barnet, and his experiments showed that meaning in film comes from the juxtaposition of shots; the 'Kuleshov effect' shows the same face seeming to express different feelings depending on what shot follows. His films combined American-style action and editing with Soviet themes. He fell out of favour in the 1930s but taught at the film school until his death.
Filmography
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924)
- The Death Ray (1925)
- Dura Lex (1926)
- The Great Consoler (1933)