Kain i Artem

A fascinating film in which an intimate revolutionary pathos goes hand in hand with an awakening of Jewish consciousness. In a small provincial town on the banks of the Volga, the impetuous docker Artem falls in love with the beautiful wife of the fish seller. The latter hires a gang to scare Artem witless. Artem is thrown in the river and then helped by Kaïn, a poor Jewish shoemaker.Kaïn i Artem, a film in the illustrious tradition of Russian montage cinema, is being screened with an original and specially-made musical accompaniment. This presentation is the start of a large and ambitious restoration project by the Nederlands Filmmuseum. As well as conservation of the so-called Uitkijk collection, a book is being written about the Nederlandsche Filmliga. In the spring of 1999 this book, a major film programme and a distribution package will be presented. The project is made possible by a financial contribution from the VSB Fund.The musical accompaniment, led by NFM music staffer Stefan Ram and compiled by Greetje de Oude and Olivier de Jonge, tries to evoke the mood of a 'Russian ballad' analogous with the nature of the film. That is why Russian folk melodies and dance rhythms were chosen, combined with Yiddish and Communist songs, played on equally characteristic instruments such as accordion, violin and percussion.