Anna Nikolaevna Zemtsova (Russian: ''Анна Николаевна Земцова'' (1893–1966), also known as Anna Li (''Анна Ли),'' Anna Pudovkina or Anna Zemcova,
was a Soviet silent film actress and film theorist.
She was married to
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...
.
Career
Anna Zemtsova started her career as an actress in the film of Khanzhonkov Studio ''Boulevard Slush'' (1918), directed by Boris Chaikovskii. She used the pseudonym ''Anna Li''.
Remains unknown why Anna Zemtsova used the pseudonym ''Anna Li''. Film historians speculate that she took the name from one of the songs of
Alexander Vertinsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (russian: Александр Николаевич Вертинский, — May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Ru ...
that inspired the screenplay of ''Boulevard Slush''. Zemtsova published three articles in the film newspaper ''Kino,'' focused on film theory that signed as ''Anna Li''. She polemized with
Lev Kuleshov
Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov (russian: Лев Владимирович Кулешов; – 29 March 1970) was a Russian and Soviet filmmaker and film theorist, one of the founders of the world's first film school, the Moscow Film School. He ...
about movement in films.
From 1922 to 1924, Zemtsova supported Vsevolod Pudovkin, which family was succumbing to
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. Pudovkin assured that she encouraged him for pursuing a career as a filmmaker.
She designed a garment called "The Chameleon" that could transform into twenty outfits, included a coat and a dress. However, Zemtsova stopped her designing activities in 1924.
Anna Zemtsova appeared in the silent short film ''Chess Fever'' (1925) as the heroine, the wife of the hero who is chess addicted. The movie was directed by her husband Vsevolod Pudovkin. She played in the later films of Pudovkin
''Mother'' (1926) and
''The End of Saint Petersburg'' (1927).
She also played in the German film ''Klippen der Ehe (''Dyk Rudensky, 1930), produced by Gestus-Film GmbH.
She married Pudovkin from 1924 until the death of the director in 1953.
Filmography
*
Chess Fever
''Chess Fever'' (russian: Шахматная горячка, Shakhmatnaya goryachka) is a 1925 Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1 ...
(1925)
*
The End of St. Petersburg (1927)
*
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
(1926)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zemtsova, Anna
1893 births
1966 deaths
Soviet silent film actresses