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City portrait / 1929

Man with a Movie Camera.

A day in a city. A film about seeing.

Director
Dziga Vertov
Film
1929 · 67 min

Screenings

A silent film without intertitles. Screening format will be confirmed before ticketing opens.

Sat 17 Oct17:00Select ticketsTue 20 Oct20:15Select tickets

About the film

Streets, factories and crowds become a restless portrait of urban life. Dziga Vertov lets the camera and the edit take centre stage.

What to watch for

How does a camera assemble a city?

One city, many angles

Streets, work and leisure are seen from rooftops, moving vehicles and unexpected viewpoints.

The cut is visible

Quick juxtapositions and trick effects keep changing the rhythm. The editing is part of what the film asks us to see.

No intertitles

There are no actors or written explanations to guide the day. The cameraman and the city carry it together.

Film information: BFI. BFI