An Unexpected Experiment. To the 50th Anniversary of «Me and Others» Film Release

The purpose of the article is to analyse the phenomenon of the creation of the outstanding popular science film directed by F. Sobolev Me and Others at the Kyivnaukfilm studio (Kyiv Science Films) in 1971. The film became a milestone in the development of Ukrainian educational cinema and had a significant impact on the self-awareness of society. The research methods are based on a comprehensive scientific approach and theoretical analysis of the social and creative production conditions in Ukraine at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, an analysis of the work of directors of the Kyivnaukfilm studio, and the relationships between artists, scientists, and society. Results. The article analyses the history of the creation of the film Me and Others as an example of a combination of highly professional cinematic search, skill, and responsibility with the scientific conscience of scientists capable of challenging the established views of society and man. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the conditions of the emergence and components of the social phenomenon that became the film Me and Others are analysed, creative means and techniques that contributed to the creation of an outstanding cinematic work and became one of the best works of the classic of Ukrainian educational cinema Felix Sobolev are identified.