THE MOBILE CINEMA
FOR THE PEOPLE
ABOUT THE MOBILE CINEMA
OF THE MACEDONIAN MINISTRY
OF EDUCATION IN THE PERIOD 1944-1950
...............................................................................................................................................................................
by Ilindenka Petrusheva
The Mobile Cinemas are mostly linked with the pioneer days of the cinematography.
In lack of permanent cinema theaters, the Mobile cinemas used to cruise through
the smaller towns and settlements. In circus tents, in bars and restaurants,
at open space, those were persistently introducing the new attraction - the
moving pictures. Such cinemas, mainly from West and Midst Europe (Italy, France,
Germany, Czechia...), started their "conquest" right after the invention
of the "cinematograph", which means - in 1895. Exactly that kind of
Italian visited Bitola in 1897, and by our present knowledge, that was the first
public film presentation in Macedonia. Little later, what means somewhere at
the beginning of the XX century and further, a significant number of Macedonian
individuals purchased mobile ciné-projectors and started to organize film projections
in various places through the country. The mobile cinema of Milan Golubovski
visited numerous settlements and towns in West Macedonia and Albania from 1907
until 1909. Later, at the end of 20's and during the 30's in XX century, many
other mobile cinemas can be noted: those are the mobile cinemas of Kermaer Brothers
from Czechia were cruising through the Ovchepole area; the circus with the mobile
cinema attraction of Dimitar Stanoev - Fakir (called as The Miskedziya) from
Delchevo, toured the Maleshevo and Ovchepole areas; then, the mobile cinema
of Ilija Dzonov from Bogdanci toured the Povardarie and Pelagonia areas and
reached Ohrid. Along the entertaining character of those cinemas, one more fact
should be emphasized - the mobile cinemas, during the development periods of
cinematography, also had propaganda and educational role. Within all of the
war parties involved in the Balkan Wars, and in both World Wars, there were
mobile cinemas engaged both in entertaining and propaganda purposes within the
army and civil population. The health education was also practiced through this
medium, as it was the case with the Hygiene Institute from Skopje, that started
with this kind of work in 1922, with its own mobile cinema. The goal of this
institution was, through the projections of the educational films on health
issues as primary health prevention and medical awareness, to educate the population
of Macedonia in most of the widespread diseases as typhus, malaria, tuberculosis,
etc.
*
After Second World War, in the federative units
of the new Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later: the Federative People's Republic
of Yugoslavia) a wide travelling network of mobile cinemas is being established,
with purpose to entertain, agitate and educate the general population (with
various kinds of means: health education, cultural enlightenment, sport training,
competition in various areas of the social life, etc.). Macedonia, of course,
wasn't any exception from this rule. So, through the pages of the Macedonian
press we can focus on the intensive work of the mobile cinemas organized by
many various organizations and institutions: Chief Direction of the Macedonian
Railways, Chief Board of Macedonian Red Cross, People's Front City Council of
Skopje, Ministry of Education of People's Republic of Macedonia (further in
the text - in its original initials: NRM; translator's note), Hygiene Institute
in Skopje, Central Committee of People's Youth of Macedonia, etc.
In this text, we're going to focus on the mobile cinema of the Ministry of Education
of People's Republic of Macedonia because of the following reasons: it's obvious
that (by the archived documentation), besides the ASNOM's (ASNOM/ASPLM - Antifascist
Parliament of the People's Liberation of Macedonia, translator's note) Trustee
Committee for Trade and Supplies, in which frames functioned the Cinematography
Department, and also, besides FIDIMA (Film Direction of Macedonia), the Cinematography
Committee of NRM, and the Ministry of Education of NRM, had a most significant
role in the profiling of the Macedonian cinematographic ambient; the activities
of this Ministry's mobile cinema is also registered in the film documentary
Through Pirin Macedonia (Niz Pirinska Makedonija, 1948) by the film director
Trajche Popov; and finally, judging by the press releases of that period, this
mobile cinema, travelling along and together with this Ministry's mobile library,
played a significant role within the "analphabet" campaign and in
the numerous activities for population's general education.
*
The Ministry of Education overtook the work-field
of the ASNOM's Trustee Committee for Education. Namely, with a Law brought at
the Third Convention of ASNOM, on April 16, 1945, during the activity of the
First Macedonian Government, the Ministry of Education is being established,
and for Minister, Nikola Minchev was appointed. (Because of the period that
this text analyses, we'll give the next information also: with the Decision
by the ASNOM Presidium from August 6, 1944, Prof. Epaminonda Pop-Andonov is
named for a Trustee for Education; later. with the Decision of the People's
Parliament of Macedonia of April 16, 1945 - for the First Minister for Education
is named Nikola Minchev. After that, by the Decision of the People's Parliament
Presidium on June 2, 1947, for the Minister of Education is named Kiro Hadzi
Vasilev, and finally, with the following Decision of the People's Parliament
on November 19, 1947, the new Minister of Education became Dimche Mire.)1 At
the very start, the activities within this Ministry were organized through 4
Departments and their sub-departments: General sub-department, Schooling sub-department,
Sub-department for General Population's Education and Sub-department for Culture
and Art. It's important to note that within the frames of this Ministry, the
Press, Radio and Film Department was also active, which activity interlaced
with the work of the Sub-department for General Population's Education and the
Sub-department for Culture and Art. Of course, due time, this organizational
scheme suffered many changes, reforms and improvements. With the Decision No.
5/6 on January 1, 1950 (Official Newspaper of NRM, No. 2/51) the Ministry of
Education was canceled, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture was
installed instead.
Further in this text, I'll try to focus (with help of the available documentation)
- briefly - on the most significant activities realized by the Ministry of Education
at the field of cinematography. The tasks given to this Ministry were the following:
spreading the cinema-network facilities through the country with equipping the
educational institutions with 16mm ciné-projectors, training the cinema operators
for those, investments in cinematography, etc., up to enterprising numerous
campaigns by this cinema means. In that context, I focus on the "analphabet"
campaign, and on the "general population education" campaign.
At the beginning of 1947, the Ministry of Education, in its annual report for
1946, among the other issues, includes the analyses about the cinema work in
that year: until now, in Macedonia exist 19 permanent cinema-halls, and during
1946, there were 8.558 cinema projections with 1,825.884 visitors. 194 soviet
films were shown, 54 domestic (journals and such) and 109 films from other national
cinematographies. The Ministry of Education has its own mobile cinema, which
realized 83 projections with 22.392 visitors. In this context, we'll note the
tasks that this Ministry realized in 1947 - the distributing of the Book of
Regulations for Cinema Management prepared by the Cinematography Committee by
the FNRJ Government (translated in Macedonian) and the distributing of the "Manual
for maintaining the order and the hygiene in the cinemas"; and also, this
Ministry enterprised an inspection upon all existing (permanent and mobile)
cinemas in the country2. A quite interesting information can be found in the
daily newspaper Nova Makedonija from February 5, 1947 (page 2), in which is
noted that the Ministry of Education gave a donation (a ciné-projector) to the
Culture Dome in Debar, which equipping was finishing at the time, "...and
because - soon - the electric energy will be installed in the town, the people
of Debar are happy that they will be in possibility to go to the movies".
One of the questions now, is: where are from, these 35mm ciné-projectors? Obviously,
at first, some kind of rearrangement was enterprised - among the already existing
cinema facilities - from the ones with more ciné-projectors, to the ones with
a lack of those. So, in that way, in the documentation we consulted, we found
the written correspondence of this Ministry with the People's Councils of Tetovo
and Kriva Palanka for transferring a ciné-projector from Tetovo to Kriva Palanka3.
And what concerns the 16mm ciné-projectors, at the beginning - they were acquired
as some kinds of grants and donations, so - in the report of this Ministry for
1946 - stands: "As a donation from Slovenia to our People's Republic, the
Ministry received 10 ciné-projectors for 16mm mute films. These ciné-projectors
are already distributed in ten separate high schools through the Republic"4.
Another interesting aspect can be noted if one takes a look onto the ambitious
five-year plan (1947-1951), which, for the cinema development, suggests the
Press, Radio and Film Department to be in charge, and after that, it becomes
a part of the whole "Five-year Development Program" of the Ministry
of Education. In the period since 1947 until 1951, according by the Press, Radio
and Film Department, what's necessary, is: "to require cinema equipment
for 70 of the larger central towns and settlements, from which - 20 are to be
with their own independent electric supplies (with aggregates) for the settlements
that aren't electrified or won't be within this five-year period; 15 district
educational departments to be acquired with the ciné-projectors for 16mm film;
the elementary and high schools to be equipped with 20 ciné-projectors for 16mm.
(mute) film for educational purposes; 10 high and basic schools to be equipped
with projectors for educational purposes; 70 ciné-operators and 70 managers
to be trained by special courses for those cinemas"5. Of course, all this
planned with the required annual dynamics. For fulfilling this five-year planned
goals, the Ministry of Education makes the five-year investment plan in which
they anticipate: "...for the cinematography purposes in this period, 82.000
Dinars are supposed to be needed, from which, 59.000 Dinars for construction
works, and 23.000 Dinars for equipment"6. In the details on this investment
plan notes the necessity that for the People's Company for Film Distribution
(which, at that moment was placed in a private building in the Skopje town's
center) should be built a new building with the special bunker for film-storing
and safe-keeping, as well as the building of the laboratory for developing of
the films and a studio for making films, because "the conditions for producing
films are available at the moment. Basically, at the beginning, the producing
of monthly journals, short cultural and propaganda films should be enterprised,
and later, the producing of documentary and artistic and feature films would
follow"7. What concerns "the cinéfication", with this five-year
plan, the building and equipping of 39 ciné-halls are being anticipated. That
the Ministry of Education intensively and thoroughly followed and encouraged
the cinematography activities country wide, clearly speaks the fact that in
1948, this Ministry did reward few artists - culture-activist and film-workers
from People's Republic of Macedonia, for their especial contributions within
their fields of work and interests - among which is Kole Chashule, the one who
did the "script and the editing of the propaganda film To Elections for
New Victories (Na izbori za novi pobedi)"8.
It's understandable that this engagement of the Ministry of Education at the
field of cinema development within the country should be observed through the
context of the general engagement in the society enterprises in whole - of the
new Government, of course, as for instance, the activities of the Cinematography
Department, the Ministry of Trade and Supplies, the Cinematography Committee,
etc.), but we're going to leave that kind of analyses for some other occasion.
In this moment, the pointing at this Ministry's other engagements are only an
introduction at the detecting of this Ministry's mobile cinema activities.
*
About the dozen of bibliography units on this Ministry's mobile cinema within
the period from 1944 until 1950, all together, was a challenge enough for us
to start the quest for revealing its activities. What's even more, that its
travelling "Odyssey" was accompanied by the "camera-eye"
of Trajche Popov, as I already mentioned before, in the film Through Pirin Macedonia,
in 1948.
The first information we got on this mobile cinema was in the ASNOM Presidium'
documentation. Namely, in December, 1944, the ASNOM's Trustee Committee for
Finances gets the letter from Ruse Slavejkov, a member of AGITPROP in the Macedonian
Liberation Brigade "Goce Delchev", in which he informs that from the
Red Army's Headquarters (placed in Sofia) succeeded to get a mobile cinema as
a gift for the Macedonian Republic (used one, of course). In the letter, he
describes the details for this Russian gift for Macedonia: "One mobile
ciné-truck with one spare (inner and outer) tire, one aggregate of 3 kilowatts,
one 35mm ciné-projector 'Super Imperial', one speaker and one amplifier, one
projector-transformator, film-winding machine, one cultural film in one reel,
one projection screen, two empty reels for winding of films, 50 meters of rubber
cable for the aggregate and a special glue for mending the films". There
also stands that the most of the equipment is at the Red Army's military factory
in Sophia for reparation and that in the beginning of 1945 the whole shipment
would be available to Federal Republic of Macedonia9. In the same letter, Slavejkov
reports that together with all of the other equipment, he got the Soviet long-length
documentary film People's Avengers (the film is shown in Macedonia - right away
- in December, and we also found the review for it in Nova Makedonija written
by Andja Dzhuvalekovska, from December 5, 1944/1, No.7, page 4.). The Trustee
Committee for Finances sends (further) this correspondence letter the Trustee
Committee for Education and at the end of January 1945, Ljuben Lape (Assistant-trustee
for People's Education), Ruse Slavejkov and the chauffeur Kiril Atevski leave
for Sophia to pick up the rest of the equipment for the mobile cinema together
with some additional technical accessories (radios, gramophones, etc.)10. Kiril
Atevski, in February goes again in Sophia, to pick up the truck from the Red
Army's Military factory11.
In 1945, and in the next few years, the campaign for general population's education
and the anti-analphabet campaign got widespread within the country. For the
requirements of the analphabet campaign, the Ministry of Education got made
numerous propaganda film slides, which were later shown in the permanent and
mobile cinemas. For this Ministry's requirements, during 1946, two more projectors
are acquired, but we still don't know where from. In the Ministry's Annual Report
for 1946, especially for the third three-month period of that year, an information
can be found that only one from the three existing ciné-projectors is fit for
work, and the other two were out of order because of the lack of adequate lamps
for them12. In this context, it's interesting is to quote the parts of the document
named as "The Tasks of the Department for People's Education that should
be done by the 3rd, and by the 10th of December, 1946": "...Blagoja
Drnkov is bound to mend the two projectors ... and ...to require films for public
showing"13.
The preparing activities in the Ministry of Education for activating of the
mobile cinema gave the first positive results in 1947. Namely, in this period
(1947 and later), an incredibly intensive activity of this mobile cinema can
be registered. It's very important to note that this Mobile Cinema makes its
touring through Macedonia, largely, together with the Mobile Library of the
same Ministry. For instance these two mobile (let's say) institutions visited
Pirin Macedonia during September 1947, the same occasion when the materials
for the film Through Pirin Macedonia, which will be finished in 1948. It's interesting
to note that in the Investment plan of the Ministry of Education for 1947 -
the Ministry plans to acquire additional 5 mobile ciné-projectors, together
with the transport vehicles, and anticipated the 3.000 Dinars costs for this
purpose14.
In 1947, the Press, Radio and Film Sub-department and the Sub-department for
Libraries, in collaboration with the Sub-department for General Population's
Education, made a precise monthly plans for this mobile cinema's and mobile
library's tours through Macedonia. In this plan, many smaller settlements and
locations are being anticipated for film showing. For instance - in January,
a significant number of the villages in Skopje area are supposed to be visited,
then in February - a large part of Bitola and a part of the Maleshevo area,
in March - the Povardarie area, then many settlements in West Macedonia, etc15.
By the annual reports of the Ministry of Education, in the first three-month
period (January-March) from 1947, the mobile cinema toured 21 settlements and
other inhabited areas, where 36 film projections are realized with 12.023 viewers,
and in the second three-month period (April-June) 16 inhabited area are being
visited, with 18 realized with 6.203 viewers16. The Press, and the Radio, of
course, regularly followed the activities of the mobile cinema and library tours.
Here we'll make a short review on the chronology and contents of those bibliography
units. Nova Makedonija, on March 4, 1947, on page 5, printed the information
(text) named as "The Mobile Cinema and the Book Collection tour Macedonia
in occasion of the Women Holiday 8th of March", in which is noted that
the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Main Board of WAF (Women's
Anti-fascist Front), organizes film projections and book exhibitions in Kriva
Palanka, Kratovo, Sveti Nikole, Carevo Selo (now Delchevo), Pehchevo, Berovo,
Radovish, Negotino, Valandovo, Gevgelija and Dojran. According to this information,
these activities on occasion for the 8th of March were in the period from February
22, until March 6. Often, on the audience's request, there were more than one
shows. The information ends with these words: "... the WAF activists explicate
the film contents". Little later, again Nova Makedonija (April 11, 1947,
page 5) printed the information that the mobile cinema and library were to the
Debar area and that in Zhirovnica two film projections were shown. Most probably
that after this, the mobile "caravan" visited the Gostivar area, because,
again in Nova Macedonia from April 26, 1947, on page 4, says that on April 21
- the mobile cinema and library by the Ministry of Education arrived in Tetovo
area after the touring the Debar and Gostivar districts. But, according to this
press article, in the district of Tetovo, "only two projections were made...".
After that, the cinema went to Tetovo because of some malfunction". The
newspaper Prosvetno delo from May 7, 1947, makes a certain news recapitulation
on those activities in the period January-March, with a conclusion that "With
the fulfilling of the three-month plan, the Ministry's mobile cinema, until
April 1, toured 14 villages and 11 towns " (Madzari, Drachevo, Lisiche,
Petrovec, Katlanovo, Stajkovci, Singelich, Porodin, Velushina, Bareshani, Bistrica
etc.). In this text, the number of the audience is noted as well, so: "...
in the village of Madzari two shows were shown in front of 250 viewers. In the
village of Petrovec were also given two shows...", while in the Bitola district
villages, the projections were visited by 1.400 of audience, in Berovo there
were more than 1.300 visitors, and in Gevgelija, Sveti Nikole and Pehchevo more
than 1.000 viewers were registered. In this text in Prosvetno delo (and only
here) the titles of the films shown by the mobile cinema in the first half of
1947. Those are the Soviet feature films: Days And Nights, The Shepherd And
the Pig-Keeper Girl and Kostya the Shepherd. A significant number of journals
of Soviet and Yugoslav production were shown, also. But already, at the autumn
campaign, the repertoire of the mobile cinema is quite different. In Nova Makedonija
from October 28, 1947, in the review named as "During last month, the mobile
library and cinema of the Ministry of Education toured the East Macedonia",
is noted that the Soviet feature films Tadzikistan and The Last Tribe, as well
as the journal People's Victory and, what's of the most importance for us, the
propaganda film Grains for the People (Zhito za narod, by Trajche Popov). This
was the first press release for this film, the one of the first-borns (together
with To Elections for New Victories by Blagoja Drnkov) of the Macedonian post-war
(institutionalized) film production. Although, the tour of East Macedonia followed
the tour through Pirin Macedonia. The visited areas were those of Shtip, Radovish,
Negotino, Vinica, Zletovo, etc. All together, 15 towns, villages and settlements,
with more than 40.000 of audience. In that way, the review ends with the conclusion
that "...these numbers show that the interest and love of the general population
towards its education is great, and that there are firm foundations for the
cultural progress of our labor masses".
In 1948 and 1949, the mobile cinema of the Ministry of Education was mostly
engaged in the propaganda and analphabet campaigns, but also, thee was room
for its regular tours through the local settlements, with a purpose of spreading
the film culture and art as an entertainment and wider enlightenment of the
people. So, in this context, we'll note the fact that in the first three-month
period of 1948, this cinema visited 16 settlements in Bitola, Prilep, Veles
and Radovish area, with 49 shows and i front of 8.071 of audience. The Soviet
films Tadzikistan, Peter the Great and We from Kronshtadt17. It's important
to note the fact that the Ministry of Education, in its project for 1949 anticipates
100.000 Dinars for acquiring of a mobile projector for the best of the numerous
Culture and Education Alliances in the country, according by their contribution
to the analphabet and education campaigns18.
The next year, in 1950, this Ministry's mobile cinema was engaged in the analphabet
campaigns. But the most important activities of that year were within the frames
of The Week of the People's Culture hold between July 2 and July 9, 1950. So,
during July, the mobile cinema toured 15 villages from the Tetovo area. "...
The audience at this film projections is huge...", claimed the newspapers
reports in Nova Makedonija (July 26, 1950, page 2) and Shar (July 21, 1950,
page 3).
With the reorganization of the Ministry of Education in 1950, its mobile cinema's
activities are overtaken by other specialized organizations. The last information
about it that can be found in the press-releases, dates from September 23, 1950,
in Nova Makedonija, on the second page of the newspaper that day, reports that
this Ministry's mobile cinema, in collaboration with the Film Company - Skopje,
visited the labor communities in the villages in Strumica district (Vasilevo,
Gradoshorci, Bosilovo, Turnovo, Novo Selo, etc.), and showed the films: Flag
(Yugoslavian feature film), the documentary Yugoslavian Folk Dances and the
Journal No.14 manufactured and produced by Vardar film.
Finishing this text, I'll mention that the mobile cinema of the Ministry of
Education of People's Republic of Macedonia, in those first post-war years,
had a large and significant role in the spreading and development of cinema
culture within the country. And in spite of the inevitable mixed propaganda
within, and the obligatory ideological determination, it was - still - an attraction
of a kind, let's say, that in a villages like Zhirovnica, Gradoshor, Velushina,
etc., the bright beam of cinema light could've been seen, as well as the film
magic on the film screen, at that time. And that's why, and in spite of the
propaganda and the dominating ideology character of the shown films (mostly),
the people of Macedonia also could see Kostya the Shepherd and Peter the Great
(and those are, still, anthology films of the Soviet film era).
Translated by Petar Volnarovski
Podvizhnoto kino na Ministerstvoto za prosveta (1944-1950). In: Kinopis, no. 25, 2002, pp. 18-26.
NOTES
1. First People's Government of Macedonia, tom 2, book 1, Archive of Macedonia,
Skopje, 1995
2. Archive of Macedonia (AM), Fond: Ministry of Education of NRM (FMP), 170.33.4/235
and 170.5.3/33
3. AM, FMP, 170.35.6/114 and 170.34.44/165
4. AM, FMP, 170.5.22/354
5. AM, FMP, 170.34.44/173-174
6. AM, FMP, 170.22.17/68 i 71
7. AM, FMP, 170.22.17/81
8. Nova Makedonija, 26.03.1948/5, No. 997, page 2.
9. AM, Fond: ASNOM Presidium, 157.11.14/20-22
10. AM, FPA, 157.9.61/334
11. AM, FPA, 157.11.19/93
12. AM, Fond: Ministry of Education of NRM, 170.5.22/354 and 170.35.6/119
13. AM, FMP, 170.34.44/166 and 167
14. AM, FMP, 170.22.18/144
15. AM, FMP, 170.34.44/183-196 and 170.5.3/45-47
16. AM, FMP, 170.5.29/432 and 444
17. AM, FMP, 170.35.5/69 and Nova Makedonija, March 28, 1948/page 6.
18. AM, FMP, 170.34.44/245