A complete and revised translation of Viktor Shklovsky’s 1926 children’s book, Journey to the Land of Movies. Including Dimitry Mitrokhin’s original colour illustrations, the book tells the story of twelve-year-old Kolya, a hungry and homeless Russian boy, and his journeys across the cities of the United States. During the journey, he experiences inequality and exploitation and learns how films are made and the way the film industry operates.

By telling the story of Kolya, a besprisornik, this children’s book is laying bare the social aspects of cinematic devices. As translator Adam Ranđelović comments, it “represents an artistic and theoretical synthesis of Shklovsky’s common motifs, ideas, and actions.”

This is the second and revised edition of Journey to the Land of Movies, which, in addition to Ranđelović’s commentary, includes a short note by a proofreader of the book, Dahlia el Broul, who is currently doing a PhD on children’s books with a political focus.

The book has been entirely redesigned by Ott Kagovere.

“The tiger got caught in the net. He hung from it and mauled it angrily with his paws.

The scene was cleared in a split second.

The actors ran with a cinematic speed towards the cinematic mountains and caves for cover.

The horse managed to break off its tether and galloped frantically away.

The cameramen also took off, leaving their cameras to an unknown fate.

Everywhere, there was shouting, whistling, and ringing.

Suddenly, he remembered the streets of Leningrad and people running along them with rifles.”