USSR, 1943, b/w, 43 min.
Directors: F. Kiselev, V. Boykov, Ya. Babushkin
DoP – N. Stepanov, O. Reizman, S. Avloshenko, et al.
Released in 1943 – the year that marked the turning point of the Great Patriotic War – the film was produced by the combined efforts of the Kuibyshev and Sverdlovsk newsreel studios, with shooting beginning in late August 1942.
Its opening frames capture the vast landscapes of the Ural Mountains, then move on to portraits of regional figures such as Academicians Obruchev and Pavlov, writer Pavel Bazhov, and leading engineers and designers Tokarev, Sudakov, Shvetsov, Morozov, and Moskalev. At its core, however, the film is a tribute to the war effort of the Urals: the forging of shells and artillery pieces, the assembly lines of the evacuated Kirov Factory from Leningrad, and the sight of tanks rolling off the conveyor belt and heading to the front. The Urals Forge Victory stands as a hymn to resilience, craftsmanship, and the unity of the Soviet people during the darkest days of the war.
