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Salt for
Svanetia
(1930)

This documentary, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, of Ushguli farmers was compiled from dissociated documentary footage and a rejected drama film. Reedited into what became a docudrama, the results are a dizzying parade of striking images of rural self-sufficiency.

Flicker Alley
2011 DVD edition

Landmarks of Early Soviet Film (1924-1930), black & white, 595 minutes total, not rated, including Salt for Svanetia (1930), black & white, 52 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0022, UPC 6-17311-67639-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 1.19:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.6 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent English language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 20 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition of Mikhail Kalatozov’s Salt for Svanetia (1930) has been mastered from the 1997 analog video transfer produced by David Shepard for release on VHS videotape. With its approximate 1.19:1 frame ratio, the source print appears to have had, at some point, a synchronized soundtrack. The source print has a typical amount of dust and speckling, with fine vertical scratches, some mild frame jitters, processing flaws, exposure fluctuations, and other minor issues. Some footage has intentionally been undercranked rendering faster-than-natural movement playback speeds.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on synthesizer by Zoran Borisavljevic.

Supplemental material includes a 28-page insert booklet with short essays and notes on the films by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Ana Olenina.

This is our recommended American home video edition of this film. The boxset is now out-of-print.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Edition Filmmuseum
2014 DVD edition

Salt for Svanetia (1930), black & white, 62 minutes, not rated, with Nail in the Boot (1932), black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.

Edition Filmmuseum, 84, unknown UPC/EAN number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 PAL DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 50 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, optional German, English and Georgian language subtitles; chapter stops; 16-page insert booklet; standard DVD keepcase; €19,95.
Release date: February 2014 (second edition, September 2016).
Country of origin: Germany

This PAL DVD edition has been mastered from archival film materials.

The film is accompanied by two optional music scores: the first composed and performed by Günter A. Buchwald, and the second composed by Masha Khotimski.

Supplemental material includes Mikhail Kalatozov’s final silent film Nail in the Boot (1932); and a 16-page bilingual (German and English) insert booklet with writings by Sergej Kapterev and Alexander Schwarz.

This is our recommended European home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.