HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Man With a Movie Camera is an example of the early soviet art movement, later named Soviet Constructivism, as the intent of the movement was to create a form of cinema designed to create a cultural identity in the wake of the revoluiton. This was headlined by a large number of state-sponsored artists, although the one I find most interesting is Dziga Vertov, most notably for his manifesto and how it interlaces with his work. While Soviet constructivism is by far my favorite variety of silent film, it tragically was replaced a by the stalin-backed socialist realism movement, which discouraged the free-form and anti-fiction beliefs that Vertov strove for in favor of a more traditional style of propoganda. Regardless, Man with a Movie Camera remains a film that is close to my heart, and an interesting experiment in constructing cultural identities.
I'd also highly reccomend reading his manifesto!