This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian Soviet Export film poster for the
1971 Yuri Ozerov film The Direction of the Main Blow
AKA Liberation. Plot summary: This is a massive military epic
covering the Russian Army's fighting in World War II from the great
Kursk tank battle to the conquest of Berlin.
Cast and crew: Yuri Ozerov, Moaty, Anwar, Yuri Bondarev, Oskar
Kurganov, Yevgeni Burenkov, Vladen Davydov, Fritz Diez, Laris
Golubkina, Kursk
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian Soviet export film poster for the 1971
five-part Yuri Ozerov film Liberation AKA Osvobozhdenie:
Napravlenie glavnogo udara written by Yuri Bondarev, Oskar
Kurganov and Yuriy Ozerov and starring Mikhail Nozhkin as Yartsev.
Plot summary: This series of films dramatizes the Soviet Union's five
Eastern Front campaigns during World War II including the Battle of
Kursk, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the
Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin.
Cast and crew: Yuri Ozerov, Yuri Bondarev, Oskar Kurganov, Yevgeni
Burenkov, Vladen Davydov, Fritz Diez, Laris Golubkina, Kursk
The former Soviet Union produced thousands of films in a long run of more than 60 years. Exporting these films
was a major national industry, and the posters were made for distribution in multiple nations in multiple languages. The posters for Soviet export films are bound to constitute an overwhelmingly massive category in the world cinema
poster catalogue, but I have not seen any reference material on the subject.
My small collection is a chance a
ccumulation, mostly from Egypt:
Adventures of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1980) starring Dharmendra, directed by Latif Faiziyev. This film was
made in India and the Soviet Union at Uzbekfilm (USSR) and Eagle Film Studios (India). The poster measures 31x47 inches; my guess is it was made for distribution in India, but the copy I have turned up in Egypt.
Tsirk (1936) starring Lyubov Orlova, directed by Grigori Aleksandrov. This poster is an undated rerelease. Judging from the aging of the paper I would put the date of the rerelease somewhere in the 1960s or 1970s. The poster has all the hallmarks of Egyptian poster production, printed by al-Nasr printers with art by Abdel Rahman, a well-known Egyptian poster artist. The English title on the poster "Circus Actors" was probably chosen for the Egyptian market, along with the Arabic title al-sirk al-azim "The Big Circus."
Direction of the Main Blow (1971) directed by Yuri Ozerov. The original Russian title is Osvobozhdenie: Napravleniye glavnogo udara; this is a history film about the Kursk tank battle of World War II. I acquired this 31x44 inch Spanish \
poster at a show from a Columbian dealer who used to make the rounds regularly at US poster shows.
This is an Egyptian poster for the 1971 film mentioned above, The Direction of the Main Blow. Liberation is an alternate English title for that film.
The Fall of Berlin (1949) starring Mikheil Gelovani as Marshal Josef Stalin, directed by Mikheil Chiaureli. This is an undated Egyptian rerelease, and again judging from the age of the paper I would put the rerelease in the 1960s or 1970s. The original Russian title is Padeniye Berlina. The title in English on the poster is The Battle for Berlin. The Arabic title ma'reket berlin could also be translated as The Battle for Berlin or simply The Berlin Battle.
Elusive Avengers [neulovimye Mstiteli] (1967). Thanks to Anastasia Belozerova for help with this one! The poster design is a collaboration between the artists Sayed Aram and Moaty, printed by al-Nasr printers.
Watch on YouTube
Modern Weapons Power (ND). I have not found any information about the film beyond what it says on the poster. The Arabic in blue at the top translates as "the most powerful documentary film since the film The Second World War; then comes the Arabic title in red letters The Secrets of Modern Weapons. The Arabic phrase in black at top right identifies it as a poster for a Soviet Export film.
Risk II (1989). This is a poster for a Soviet Export documentary film about World War II.
Romeo and Juliet (1955) starring Galina Ulanova as Juliet, directed by Lev Amshtam and Leonid Lavrovsky, based on the play by William Shakespeare with music by Sergei Prokofiev. This poster measures 28" x 42" and turned up in Iran. It was probably intended for distribution in multiple countries.
Father of a Soldier (1964) starring Sergo Zagariadze, directed by Rezo Chkheidze. The poster is Egyptian in a non-standard Egyptian size 26.75x39.5 inches, again with art by Abdel Rahman and printed by al-Nasr printers. The Arabic title is al-ab The Father.
Zhavoronok (1964) starring Gennadi Yukhtin, directed by Nikita Kurikhin and Leonid Menaker. This Soviet war movie is about an incident instead of a battle, where some Russian prisoners are used as target practice in a T-34 tank by the Germans in World War II. The Arabic title is al-modmeret al-qatela "The Murderous Destroyer" with the English title "T-34" at the top of the poster.
Force Majeure Circumstances (ND)
I could not find any information about this film because none of the people involved in its creation are mentioned on the poster. Based on the age of the paper I think this is for a film from the 1980s.
Secrets of Madame Wong (1986) - (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan) Egyptian film poster
