ABC educational film called Discovery about the foreign children attending the Anglo-American School in Moscow. The school is attended by children from all over the world whose parents are diplomats and work in government. The show highlights famous landmarks and history of Moscow during soviet communist rule and how the children have acclimated to their new environment. The film is interesting for the time because it gives an objective view of Soviet Russia in 1968. The Anglo-American School of Moscow remains in operation. It is an independent, non-profit, co-educational, international day school catering for students between the ages of 4 and 18 (Pre-kindergarten to Grade 12), chartered by the American, British and Canadian embassies.
A group of children wrap a scarf around a snowman. Two kids eat piroshkis in their ushanka hats. Image of Vladimir Lenin on a red billboard (00:29). Title “Moscow’s Young Americans.” Animated graphics introduce “Discovery “68.” Snow dusted Saints Basil’s looms over the Red Square (1:30). Quick shots of the Moscow Kremlin Wall, the Cathedral of Annunciation and the Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin. A long line of people in heavy winter clothes wait to see Lenin’s grave (1:54). Children play on monkey bars and in the snow. They dress a snowman up while the narrators introduce them and what countries they are from. They introduce the Anglo-American School where the kids attend. The principle comes out in a fur coat and rings a bell (4:26). The children pile into the school removing their winter coats. The teacher points at a map and asks the children questions. A different class of children chant Russian in unison (5:50). Pans of the class and teacher, Russian language signs on the walls. A woman translates English to Russian on a chalk board. Close ups of the students at their desks. Zoom out of the narrators standing outside of the Red Square. Shots of Spasskaya Bashnya, the wall, a large dome with a flag waving on top, GUM department Store, the Russian Historical Museum and Saint Basil (8:30). The cathedral is covered in snow, close up of the monument of Minin and Pozharsky (9:15). A soldier directs two children and salutes. Soldiers march with rifles with bayonets to Lenin’s tomb (9:30). A long line of people slowly shuffle towards the tomb. Two children look up at Spasskaya tower. Tilt shot of the Cathedral of annunciation with its gold domes (10:30). They point at the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great. People mill around the Tsar’s Cannon then the Tsar’s Bell. The girl tries on a fur Cossack hat in a store. The girl admires a large set of nesting dolls (12:05). A street vendor sells piroshki. Kids play hockey in the snow, one boy falls. Scenes of the children from the school and the Russian children interacting with each other. Large imposing picture of Lenin (13:01). Flashes of soviet ephemera and signs. The narrators approach the American Embassy. A chef in a white hat cooks burgers and hotdogs. American children joyously eat the food with lots of ketchup (14:18). The chef serves a little girl a cheeseburger with fries. Close ups of the kids eating and socializing. Kids flip through American magazines. An Airforce Major teaches kids judo (15:08). Kids ice skate in the interior courtyard of the embassy. The kids play in the snow on sleds and throw snow balls. The American kids play hockey outside of their brick building. A buy spins a globe. A girl tunes into an American station on her radio. Families ski with poles in Sokolniki Park. A horse pulls a sleigh (17:11). A baby bundled in blankets is pulled in a small sled. People arrive to the New Years party thrown by Komsomol, the youth division of the communist party. A man in an elf like green outfit and pointy nose entertains children, including the Young Pioneers (17:31). A man dressed in sparkling white as Grandfather Frost shakes hands with the children. I giant Christmas tree blinks with garland and a red star on top (18:03). Little animatronic animals play music with a clown. The clown rests a violin on his foot and plays it (18:58). The children go about their daily activities. The narrators stand at the top of some stairs about to enter an Air Canadian plane. She shows the camera some books, “You Can Learn Russian” “The Picture History of Russia” and “Young Russia.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
