Spotlight
Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein was born on this date in 1898. Now considered one of film history's most influential directors, Eisenstein was studying engineering in Petrograd when the 1917 Revolution broke out. He became interested in theater, starting as a set designer for the Proletkult Theater (1920), and moving on to direct plays. His most famous films are Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky.

Quote
The revolution gave me the most precious thing in life – it made an artist out of me... The revolution introduced me to art, and art, in its own turn, brought me to the revolution...." – Sergei Eisenstein in the forward of his memoirs, Beyond the Stars

Word of the day
montage: in movies a technique of juxtaposing shots in order to allow the film to progress rapidly over a short period of time; Eisenstein was often called the "father of montage." (© )

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Today's Birthdays

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• Mariska Hargitay: actor, Law & Order: SVU (42)