THE ROLE OF PORTRAIT VIDEO FILMS OF THE PROJECT “NORTHERN LITERATURE. VIDEO VERSIONS” IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

Abstract

The article examines media products as a means of implementing the regional component in literary education. The material is the project “Northern Literature. Video Versions”, carried out since 2021 by Arkhangelsk philologists at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. V. Lomonosov. The study aims to characterise the content of the project’s portrait documentaries and to determine their role in educational activities, in the teaching of literature and in patriotic education. The methods employed are a review of scholarly and methodological literature, description of practical experience and analysis of media products. Six portrait films of 45 to 65 minutes are characterised, presenting the literature of the Russian North through the work of N. Zhernakov, A. Levushkin, K. Paustovsky, E. Galimova, V. Belov, F. Abramov, O. Fokina, A. Popov and V. Bednov. The cycle is shown to rest on the genre of the literary portrait, within which various compositional solutions are applied: a film-composition with poetry off-screen, and interviews interrupted by staged stories and songs. The educational function is realised through biographical material: the theme of family and labour dynasties becomes the leitmotif of the film about N. Zhernakov, while the theme of the native land runs through the films about A. Levushkin and O. Fokina. Practices of using the films in educational institutions are noted: the transfer of a film to the House of Culture and school in the settlement of Amderma, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, screenings within the “Conversations about Important Things” course and in literature lessons, and the presentation of the film about O. Fokina at the First Fokinsky Festival in Vologda. Data on demand are cited: the film about V. Bednov received about 20,000 views by the end of August 2026. The authors conclude that such projects possess didactic and educational potential and can be replicated in other regions.