This article is devoted to the problem of the reorganization of the film industry during the Civil War,
it’s transformation in the conditions of a split society. On the basis of different types of sources, using the
principle of historicism and the method of artistic analysis, the authors consider the following aspects: the
division of cinema into "white" and "red", the institutionalization of film production, the integration of the
cinematic community, the significance of this period for the further development of the country's cinema art.
Special attention is paid to the problem of the birth of the propaganda film genre, as well as to the works of
L. Kuleshov and D. Vertov. The authors come to the conclusion that the question of the survival of cinema
could not be solved otherwise than through the unification of the film community and finding compromises.