Frontier Films, 1936-1941: The Aesthetics of Impact

Blanche Evan'sFilm Studies of the Dance: The “Technique Problem” and the Creation of New Forms in 1930s Revolutionary Dance

“…Berman and Wolff were part of a left-wing group of filmmakers who split from the New York Film and Photo League in 1934 out of dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of documentary style, which dominated the league at that time. Calling themselves Nykino, the group also included Leo Hurwitz, Irving Lerner, Sidney Meyers, and Ralph Steiner (Alexander 1975, 17) 15 . Besides Berman and Evan, there were other personal connections between the Nykino filmmakers and the leftist dance community—Hurwitz was the husband of Jane Dudley and the brother of Sophie Delza, and Meyers was married to Edna Ocko.…”

“…Also noteworthy in this list is Jay Leyda, an influential advisor to Nykino, whose wife, the Soviet modern dancer Si-Lan Chen, became associated with the leftist dancers upon arriving in New York in about 1936 (Leyda 1984, 238–240) 16 . The Nykino filmmakers were interested in Soviet film methods of shot construction, editing, and montage (Alexander 1975, 16). They studied the techniques of Pudovkin and Kuleshov, and had lessons sent to them from Eisenstein's Moscow Film School (Steiner and Hurwitz 1935, 22, 23).…”

“…They studied the techniques of Pudovkin and Kuleshov, and had lessons sent to them from Eisenstein's Moscow Film School (Steiner and Hurwitz 1935, 22, 23). In about late 1936, after the New York premiere of Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko's Frontier , they renamed their group Frontier Films in homage (Alexander 1975, 20). The Nykino filmmakers’ interest in the Soviet avant-garde is evident in the camera work and editing throughout Film Studies of the Dance , and especially in the closing “Fragment of an Experimental Film-Dance.”…”

“…“If the film is eventually to be a powerful weapon in the class struggle,” wrote Steiner, “film groups must learn to speak effectively through the medium of the film rather than with words” (Steiner 1934, 22). At the same time, like other leftist artists of the period, the Nykino artists were also attempting to gain professional-level skills, attract a larger audience, deepen their effects upon the viewer, and become accomplished artists themselves (Alexander 1975, 17). “Film makers must keep in mind that the statement ‘there is no art without propaganda’ is also true in the reverse: there can be no effective propaganda without good art ,” Steiner insisted (1934, 23, emphasis in original).…”

“…15.For a comprehensive history of Nykino and Frontier Films, see Alexander (1981). Berman, Hurwitz, Maddow, and Myers remained members of the collective until it ended in 1941 (Alexander 1975, 17).…”