page_title: Salt for Svanetia
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Salt for Svanetia / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Ushguli Esperanto: Uŝguli ქართული: უშგული Русский: Ушгули 中文: Ushguli עברית: אושגולי
context_page_description: Salt for Svanetia is a 1930 Soviet-Georgian silent documentary film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. As one of the earliest ethnographic films, it documents the life of the Svan people in the isolated mountain village of Ushguli in Svanetia, in the northwestern part of the Georgian Soviet Republic. Containing some propaganda, the climax of the film shows how a Soviet built road connects the previously isolated mountain village to Soviet civilisation. Many of the scenes of the film were staged, and the authenticity of some scenes has been disputed by the Svan people.
context_section_description: Svanetia was an underdeveloped region, and thus Soviet planners tried to make it a showcase of Soviet modernization during the first five-year plan between 1928 and 1932. During this time roads were built, an air service was established and industries such as mining and lumbering were developed. At the same time Soviet authorities tried to change and sovietize the traditional life of the Svan people. It was against this background of Svanetia as a showcase of Soviet modernization that Salt for Svanetia was produced.
  Inspired by a tour of the Caucasus, the writer and journalist Sergei Tretyakov wrote a newspaper article that gave Kalatozov the idea for the film. Tretyakov then wrote a script for Kalatozov, and shooting began in the mountain village Ushguli in Upper Svanetia. Originally the film was planned to be a fictional feature film, but ultimately Viktor Shklovsky edited the footage Kalatozov had shot in Svanetia into a documentary film. Most, but not all, parts of the documentary were staged, similar to other Soviet documentaries of the early 1930s. The authenticity of some scenes has been disputed by the Svan people who deny that some of the customs shown have ever existed. The cinematography of Mikhail Kalatozov and the cinematographer Shalva Gegelashvili has been described as expressionistic due to its use of dramatic shadows, silhouettes against a dramatic skyline and Dutch angles.
caption: The mountain village of Ushguli in 2006.
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