AV CLUB

Maters of Montage:

The Revolutionary, the Scientist, and the Poet

This film series dives into how political upheaval, economic pressures, and cultural ambition shaped the birth of montage in early 20th‑century Russia—through the work of three visionary directors:

Sergei Eisenstein — The Revolutionary: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Dziga Vertov — The Scientist: Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Alexander Dovzhenko — The Poet: Earth (1930)

Each screening opens with a multimedia presentation and exhibit revealing how Soviet ideology both ignited and constrained artistic innovation—and how these filmmakers navigated censorship to create some of cinema's most influential works.

Attendees are invited to stay for open discussions after each film to explore the themes, techniques, and political connections in greater depth.

About the Film Collection

The Miami-Dade Public Library holds one of the remaining, circulating 16mm film collections. The collection dates back to 1956 and was developed to be a teaching collection designed to be used for public programming. Its holdings include acclaimed feature films such as Rashomon (1950),

Alphaville (1965), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Pandora's Box (1928), and Exterminating Angel (1962). However, what makes this collection special is the wide array of short films, ranging from experimental created by notable artists like Len Lye, Luis Bunel, Homer Groening, Kenneth Anger, Sergei Eisenstein, John Whitney to the educational produced by the likes of Pyramid Films, Xerox, McGraw Hill, and National Film Board of Canada.

Unique to the collection are Florida specific titles like Enchanted (1982), Metropolis in the Sun (1989), The Everglades (1970), A Hurricane Named Betsy (1965), Miccosukee Indian Friends (1975), Salesman (1969), and more.

The library's films are available to be checked out for a period of 2 weeks to Miami-Dade Public Library cardholders. The library does not circulate equipment and projectors – patrons will need to have their own. Patrons can also access the films on-site at the library through a research visit scheduled with the Special Collections department.

About the Division of Special Collections & Archives

Miami-Dade Public Library System's Division of Special Collections & Archives holds rare and irreplaceable historical documents for the benefit of the public and scholarly community. They oversee the Helen Muir Florida Collection, 16mm Film Collection, Cuban Collection of Rare Books & Ephemera, Genealogy Collection, Vasari Project, and rare & antiquarian books from as early as the 17th century. The Division's primary goal is to provide the public with the contents of the vault at their request. Its collections include rare books, original manuscripts, over 18,000 photographs, prints, artifacts, audiovisual resources, and electronic media.