“Arsenal” is a silent black-and-white film that is often referred to as “film poetry” in Ukrainian. It tells of one of the most dramatic periods in Ukrainian history in avant-garde form, when Ukraine gained its independence from the Russian Empire in 1917, albeit only for a short time. Soldiers return from the front lines of the First World War and rise up in a pro-Soviet uprising in the Kyiv Arsenal factory. The uprising is soon put down by troops of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

In epic style, the film shows one of the key moments in the Ukrainians’ long struggle for an independent state. The director’s innovative editing style, the filigree camera work of cinematographer Danylo Demutsky, the performance of the best Ukrainian actors of their time – all this made the film famous and successful not only in Ukraine but also abroad. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (USA) included the film in its list of the best works of 1929.

Dovzhenko’s “Arsenal” is dramaturgically and stylistically one of the most interesting films of the first half of the 20th century, which has lost none of its topicality and impact to this day. The influences of German cinematic expressionism are also most clearly recognizable in “Arsenal”. Dovzhenko became familiar with it during his diplomatic activities and his art studies in Berlin in the years 1922-1923.