This bibliography originated as a preliminary research study for a Ph. D. Dissertation on the Soviet cinema during 1971-1973 at the Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles. The completed research program 'The Cultural-Political Traditions and Developments of the Soviet Cinema; 1917-1972' was accepted by the Graduate School Faculty in September, 1973. The present work revises and expands this dissertation.

The book provides an illuminating background of the political history of the Soviet cinema in the twenties.

The political influences on Soviet cinema are traced from its pre-revolutionary heritage, through the Revolution and the golden years of the late 1920s through Second World War liberalization and the extraordinary repression of Stalin final years.The political influences on Soviet cinema are traced from its pre-revolutionary heritage, through the Revolution and the golden years of the late 1920s through Second World War liberalization and the extraordinary repression of Stalin final years.

Film lovers all over the world are familiar with the masterpieces of Eisenstein and Tarkovsky. These directors' unique achievements were embedded in a powerful process that began under Russia's last tsar and underwent several periods of blossoming: the bourgeois cinema in the 1910s, the revolutionary avant-garde in the 1920s, the Thaw in the 1950s, and the awakening of national cinemas in the 1960s and 1970s. The Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema is the first reference work of its kind in the English language devoted entirely to the cinema of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the post-Soviet period, including both the cinematic highlights and the mainstream. The cinemas of the former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Latvia, are also represented with their most influential artists. Through a chronology, an introduction essay, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on filmmakers, performers, cinematographers, composers, producers, studios, genres, and outstanding films, this reference work covers the history of Russian and Soviet filmmaking from 1896 to 2007.