Lenfilm
Encyclopedia
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit
of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg
, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios, which are operating on the premises. Since August 2007, the new Chief Executive Officer of OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Telnov.
and Lily Brik made their first silent films, released in 1917 and 1918.
The territory of Lenfilm was originally in the private ownership of the Aquarium garden, which belonged to the merchant Georgy Alexandrov, who operated a restaurant, a public garden and a theatre on the same site. The composer Peter Tchaikovsky came to what was then the Aquarium theatre (and is now Stage # 4 of Lenfilm) as a guest to the 1893 performance of the overture to his The Nutcracker
ballet. Famous Russian bass singer Feodor Chaliapin
performed here in the 1910s and the early 1920s. Stars of the Soviet era also gave performances here, such as Isaak Dunaevsky, and Leonid Utyosov
with his jazz-band during the 1920s and 1930s.
film studio were nationalized in 1918 and it was established as a Soviet State-funded film industry. Within just a few years it bore several different names, such as "Petrograd Cinema Committee" and "SevZapKino" among various others. In 1923 the nationalized Aquarium garden was merged with "SevZapKino" and several smaller studios to form the Soviet State-controlled film industry in St. Petersburg. During 1924 - 1926 it was temporarily named Leningrad Film Factory Goskino and eventually changed its name several times during the 1920s and 1930s.
At that time many notable filmmakers, writers, and actors were active at the studio, such as Yevgeni Zamyatin, Grigori Kozintsev
, Iosif Kheifets, Sergei Eisenstein
, Sergei Yutkevich
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Nikolai Akimov, Yuri Tynyanov, Veniamin Kaverin
, Viktor Shklovsky
, and the writers of Serapion Brothers
, as well as many other figures of Russian and Soviet culture.
Since 1934 the studio has been named Lenfilm.
During the Soviet era Lenfilm was the second largest (after Mosfilm
) production branch
of the Soviet film industry, which incorporated more than 30 film-studios located across the former Soviet Union.
During the World War II and the Siege of Leningrad
very few cinematographers remained active in the besieged Leningrad and made film documentaries about the heroic fight against the Nazis. At the same time, most personnel and production units of the Lenfilm studio were evacuated to cities in Central Asia, such as Alma-Ata (1942) and Samarkand
. There "Lenfilm" temporarily merged with other Soviet film studios into the Central United Film Studio (TsOKS). The Lenfilm returned to Leningrad
in 1944.
Today in the Aquarium Theater there is a stage where many famous Lenfilm pictures had been shot and many film stars played their roles. George Cukor
in 1975 made a film here called The Blue Bird
. Elizabeth Taylor
was here; she played Queen of light in that film. Jane Fonda
, Ava Gardner
– they worked here, at Stage # 4, the prior Aquarium Theatre. Orlando
was partly filmed here with Tilda Swinton
. Afghan Breakdown
was shot here by Vladimir Bortko, with Michele Placido
, who plays a Russian Colonel. In the beginning of the 1990s there were about a dozen famous American scriptwriters, the winners of Oscars, here.
By the end of the Soviet Union era, Lenfilm had produced about 1,500 films. Many film classics were produced at Lenfilm throughout its history and some of these were granted international awards at various film festival
s.
, Lenfilm became a quasi-private film production company of Russia, retaining its name in spite of renaming of the city of Leningrad to St. Petersburg
.
Lenfilm is a place that is tightly connected with the world celebrities, such as those mentioned and Jane Fonda
, Maximilian Schell
, Marina Vlady
, Julia Ormond
, Michael Caine
, William Hurt
, Sophie Marceau
, Sean Bean
, Sandrine Bonnaire
, Gérard Philipe
, and with many great Russians, such as: Vladimir Mayakovsky
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Alexander Ney
, Kirill Lavrov
, Daniil Granin
, Pavel Kadochnikov, Aleksandr Demyanenko, Sergey Kuryokhin
, and many others.
In 2004 "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" was re-organized into a privately owned company.
In 2007 "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" together with Apple IMC
opened the "Apple" post-production training centre for filmmakers, where Apple computers are used for editing and special effects, as well as for training and certification of film editors in Final Cut Pro 5.1 and other Apple programs.
Several international productions were made in collaboration with "Lenfilm" such as: Anna Karenina was produced by Warner Bros. and Icon Intl., albeit many Lenfilm's actors, crew, and production facilities were involved in a similar way as the production of Синяя птица / The Blue Bird
, and Franz Liszt. Dreams of love
, a Hungarian Mafilm production made in collaboration with Lenfilm.
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios, which are operating on the premises. Since August 2007, the new Chief Executive Officer of OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Telnov.
Before Lenfilm
St. Petersburg was home to several Russian and French film studios since the early 1900s. In 1908 the St. Petersburg businessman Vladislav Karpinsky opened his film factory "Ominum Film" which produced documentaries and feature films for local theatres. During the 1910s, one of the most active private film studios was "Neptun" in St. Petersburg, where such figures as Vladimir MayakovskyVladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
and Lily Brik made their first silent films, released in 1917 and 1918.
The territory of Lenfilm was originally in the private ownership of the Aquarium garden, which belonged to the merchant Georgy Alexandrov, who operated a restaurant, a public garden and a theatre on the same site. The composer Peter Tchaikovsky came to what was then the Aquarium theatre (and is now Stage # 4 of Lenfilm) as a guest to the 1893 performance of the overture to his The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
ballet. Famous Russian bass singer Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.During the first phase...
performed here in the 1910s and the early 1920s. Stars of the Soviet era also gave performances here, such as Isaak Dunaevsky, and Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utesov ; real name Lazar Vaysbeyn or Weissbein , was a famous Soviet jazz singer and comic actor of jewish origin, who became the first pop singer to be awarded the prestigious title of People's Artist of the USSR .-Biography:Leonid Utyosov was brought up in Odessa...
with his jazz-band during the 1920s and 1930s.
Petrograd and Leningrad Film Industry
The facilities and land of the LeningradSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
film studio were nationalized in 1918 and it was established as a Soviet State-funded film industry. Within just a few years it bore several different names, such as "Petrograd Cinema Committee" and "SevZapKino" among various others. In 1923 the nationalized Aquarium garden was merged with "SevZapKino" and several smaller studios to form the Soviet State-controlled film industry in St. Petersburg. During 1924 - 1926 it was temporarily named Leningrad Film Factory Goskino and eventually changed its name several times during the 1920s and 1930s.
At that time many notable filmmakers, writers, and actors were active at the studio, such as Yevgeni Zamyatin, Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Mikhaylovich Kozintsev was a Jewish Ukrainian, Soviet Russian theatre and film director. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964.He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts...
, Iosif Kheifets, Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
, Sergei Yutkevich
Sergei Yutkevich
Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich was an award-winning Soviet film director and screenwriter.-Life and career:He began work as a teen doing puppet shows. Later he helped found the Factory of the Eccentric Actor , which was primarily concerned with circus and music hall acts. He entered films in the...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Nikolai Akimov, Yuri Tynyanov, Veniamin Kaverin
Veniamin Kaverin
Veniamin Alexandrovich Kaverin was a Soviet writer associated with the early 1920s movement of the Serapion Brothers. The immunologist Lev Zilber was his older brother, and the critic Yury Tynyanov was his brother-in-law....
, Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky was a Russian and Soviet critic, writer, and pamphleteer.-Life:...
, and the writers of Serapion Brothers
Serapion Brothers
The Serapion Brothers was a group of writers formed in Petrograd, Russia in 1921. The group was named after a literary group, Die Serapionsbrüder , to which German romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann belonged and after which he named a collection of his tales...
, as well as many other figures of Russian and Soviet culture.
Lenfilm
During the Soviet era Lenfilm was the second largest (after Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
) production branch
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
of the Soviet film industry, which incorporated more than 30 film-studios located across the former Soviet Union.
During the World War II and the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
very few cinematographers remained active in the besieged Leningrad and made film documentaries about the heroic fight against the Nazis. At the same time, most personnel and production units of the Lenfilm studio were evacuated to cities in Central Asia, such as Alma-Ata (1942) and Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. There "Lenfilm" temporarily merged with other Soviet film studios into the Central United Film Studio (TsOKS). The Lenfilm returned to Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1944.
Today in the Aquarium Theater there is a stage where many famous Lenfilm pictures had been shot and many film stars played their roles. George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
in 1975 made a film here called The Blue Bird
The Blue Bird (1976 film)
The Blue Bird is a 1976 American/Soviet fantasy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes, and Aleksei Kapler is based on L'Oiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was the fifth screen adaptation of the play, following two silent films, the studio's 1940 version...
. Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
was here; she played Queen of light in that film. Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
– they worked here, at Stage # 4, the prior Aquarium Theatre. Orlando
Orlando (film)
Orlando is a 1992 film based on Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography, starring Tilda Swinton as Orlando, Billy Zane as Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, and Quentin Crisp as Queen Elizabeth. It was directed by Sally Potter....
was partly filmed here with Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
. Afghan Breakdown
Afghan Breakdown
Afghan Breakdown is a 1990 war drama film about the Soviet war in Afghanistan directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the Soviet Union...
was shot here by Vladimir Bortko, with Michele Placido
Michele Placido
Michele Placido is an internationally known Italian actor and director. He is best known for the role of Corrado Cattani in the TV series La Piovra.-Life and career:...
, who plays a Russian Colonel. In the beginning of the 1990s there were about a dozen famous American scriptwriters, the winners of Oscars, here.
By the end of the Soviet Union era, Lenfilm had produced about 1,500 films. Many film classics were produced at Lenfilm throughout its history and some of these were granted international awards at various film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s.
Today
After the dissolution of the Soviet UnionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, Lenfilm became a quasi-private film production company of Russia, retaining its name in spite of renaming of the city of Leningrad to St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Lenfilm is a place that is tightly connected with the world celebrities, such as those mentioned and Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell is an Austrian-born Swiss actor who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961...
, Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady
Marina Vlady is a French actress.She won the Best Actress Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival for The Conjugal Bed. From 1955 to 1959 she was married to actor/director Robert Hossein...
, Julia Ormond
Julia Ormond
Julia Karin Ormond is an English actress who has appeared in film and television and on stage.-Early life and education:...
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
, Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
, Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
, Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire is a French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including Hollywood movies.Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in...
, Gérard Philipe
Gérard Philipe
Gérard Philipe was a prominent French actor, who had appeared in 34 films between 1944 and 1959.-Career:...
, and with many great Russians, such as: Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Alexander Ney
Alexander Ney
Alexander Ney is an American sculptor and painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1974 and has since lived and worked in New York...
, Kirill Lavrov
Kirill Lavrov
Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov was a well-known Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor and director.-Childhood:Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov was born on September 15, 1925, in Leningrad, USSR . He was baptized by the Russian Orthodox Church of St. John the Divine in Lavrushinskoe Podvorie Monastery in...
, Daniil Granin
Daniil Granin
Daniil Alexandrovich Granin is an author born in the former Soviet Union. He started writing in the 1930s when he was still an engineering student at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute...
, Pavel Kadochnikov, Aleksandr Demyanenko, Sergey Kuryokhin
Sergey Kuryokhin
Sergey Kuryokhin was a Russian film actor, film composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist and writer, based in St. Petersburg, Russia.-Biography:Kuryokhin began his acting career as a piano and keyboard player with a school band in Leningrad...
, and many others.
In 2004 "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" was re-organized into a privately owned company.
In 2007 "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" together with Apple IMC
Apple IMC
Apple IMC is an independent company given the title of "Independent Marketing Company" authorised to be a distributor for the computer manufacturer Apple Inc.-Presence:...
opened the "Apple" post-production training centre for filmmakers, where Apple computers are used for editing and special effects, as well as for training and certification of film editors in Final Cut Pro 5.1 and other Apple programs.
Timeline and selected filmography
- 19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
: Чапаев / Chapaev (cult filmCult filmA cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
), directed by Brothers Vasilyev. - 19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
: Золушка / Zolushka (film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
) - 19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
: Александр Попов / Alexander PopovAlexander Popov (film)Alexander Popov is a 1949 biographical film about the life and work of Alexander Stepanovich Popov, who was the notable physicist and electrical engineer, inventor of radio communication....
(biographical filmBiographical filmA biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
) - 19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
: The Boys from Leningrad (Запасной игрок), starring Georgi Vitsin, Vs. Kuznetsov, and Pavel Kadochnikov. - 19561956 in filmThe year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
: Старик Хоттабыч (aka.. The Flying Carpet) directed by Gennadi Kazansky, starring Nikolai Volkov and Alesha Litvinov. - 19601960 in filmThe year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
: Дама с собачкой directed by Iosif Kheifets, starring Iya Savvina and Aleksei Batalov. - 19601960 in filmThe year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
: Пиковая дама / The Queen of SpadesThe Queen of Spades (1960 film)The Queen of Spades is a 1960 film adaptation of the opera The Queen of Spades, based on the Aleksandr Pushkin short story of the same name.The operatic parts were performed by Zurab Andzhaparidze, Tamara Milashkina, Yevgeny Kibkalo....
(film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) - 19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
: Человек-амфибия / The Amphibian Man (film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) directed by Gennadi Kazansky, starring Anastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya Alexandrovna Vertinskaya , a Soviet and Russian actress whose mass popularity and high critical acclaim made her one of the most distinguished figures in the history of the 20th century Soviet cinema...
and Mikhail Kozakov. - 19631963 in filmThe year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
: Каин XVIII / Kain XVIIIKain XVIIIKain XVIII is a 1963 film from the Soviet Union, adapted from Evgeny Shvarts' tale Two friends. The Soviet film industry reported that 21.7 million spectators saw the film.-Plot:...
, directed by Erast GarinErast GarinErast Pavlovich Garin was, together with Igor Ilyinsky and Sergey Martinson, one of the leading comic actors of Vsevolod Meyerhold's company and of the Soviet cinema. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1977....
(film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) - 19641964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
: Гамлет / HamletHamlet (1964 film)Hamlet is a 1964 film adaptation in Russian of William Shakespeare's play of the same title, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak. It was directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Iosif Shapiro, and stars Innokenty Smoktunovsky as Prince Hamlet.-Background:...
, directed by Grigori KozintsevGrigori KozintsevGrigori Mikhaylovich Kozintsev was a Jewish Ukrainian, Soviet Russian theatre and film director. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964.He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts...
(drama), the Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
Award at the Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in 1962 nominated and Special Jury Prize winner. - 19681968 in filmThe year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
: Dead Season (spy film), directed by Savva Kulish, and starring Donatas Banionis and Rolan Bykov. - 19701970 in filmThe year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
: Franz Liszt. Dreams of loveFranz Liszt. Dreams of loveSzerelmi álmok – Liszt is a Hungarian-Soviet epic musical/drama produced and directed by Márton Keleti, based on the biography of Austrian-Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt.While the movie was criticized for some of its historical inaccuracies,...
(drama), directed by Márton Keleti, and starring Imre Sinkovits and Ariadna Shengelaya. - 19711971 in filmThe year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
: DauriaDauria (1971 film)Dauria is an Soviet 1971 historical action/drama set in Siberia, Russia. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Konstantin Sedykh and directed by Viktor Tregubovich....
, directed by Viktor Tregubovich (film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) starring Vitaly SolominVitaly SolominVitaly Mefodievich Solomin was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter. He was the younger brother of Yury Solomin....
and Yefim KopelyanYefim KopelyanYefim Zakharovich Kopelyan was a Soviet actor of theater and cinema, one of the legendary masters of the Bolshoi Theatre of Drama . He performed the bright characteristic roles in the films The Elusive Avengers, Intervention, Eternal call, Straw cap, read author's text in the television series... - 19761976 in filmThe year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
: Синяя птица / The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird (1976 film)The Blue Bird is a 1976 American/Soviet fantasy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes, and Aleksei Kapler is based on L'Oiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was the fifth screen adaptation of the play, following two silent films, the studio's 1940 version...
, directed by George CukorGeorge CukorGeorge Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
(film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) starring Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
. - 19781978 in filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
: Одинокий голос человека / The Lonely Voice of ManThe Lonely Voice of ManThe Lonely Voice of Man , also known as The Lonely Human Voice, is the first full-feature film by Alexander Sokurov. It was originally filmed in 1978 and reconstructed in 1987 at the Lenfilm studios...
, directed by Alexander SokurovAlexander SokurovAlexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark , filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust , which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.- Life and work...
(drama) - 19801980 in film- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
: Разжалованный / The DegradedThe DegradedThe Degraded is the second film by Alexander Sokurov. It was released in 1980 and is only 30 minutes long.-Background:This film was Sokurov's first feature at Lenfilm...
, directed by Alexander SokurovAlexander SokurovAlexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark , filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust , which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.- Life and work...
(short film) - 19811981 in film-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
: Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона. Собака Баскервилей / The Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1981 film)The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1981 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was the third installment in the TV series about adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson...
, directed by Igor MaslennikovIgor MaslennikovIgor Fyodorovich Maslennikov is a Russian film director.He was born in Gorky. In 1954 Maslennikov completed his education in the department of journalism of the Leningrad University and worked as an editor, script writer, and cameraman on Leningrad television...
(film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) - 19821982 in film-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
: Пиковая дама / The Queen of SpadesThe Queen of Spades (1982 film)The Queen of Spades is a 1982 film adaptation of the Aleksandr Pushkin short story of the same name.Film is verbatim screening of Pushkin's story.-Cast:* Narrator - Alla Demidova* Hermann - Viktor Proskurin...
, directed by Igor MaslennikovIgor MaslennikovIgor Fyodorovich Maslennikov is a Russian film director.He was born in Gorky. In 1954 Maslennikov completed his education in the department of journalism of the Leningrad University and worked as an editor, script writer, and cameraman on Leningrad television...
(film adaptationFilm adaptationFilm adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
) - 19821982 in film-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
: Golos , directed by Ilya AverbakhIlya AverbakhIlya Aleksandrovich Averbakh was a Soviet film director. His 1972 film, Monologue, was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.-External links:...
, (drama) starring Natalya Sayko and Leonid FilatovLeonid FilatovLeonid Alekseyevich Filatov was a Soviet and Russian actor, director, poet, pamphleteer, who shot to fame while a member of troupe at Taganka Theatre under director Yury Lyubimov...
. - 19831983 in film-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
: Скорбное бесчувствие / Painful IndifferencePainful IndifferenceMournful Unconcern is the third produced film by Alexander Sokurov, completed in 1983, but the fourth released one, as it was banned by Soviet authorities until perestroika in 1987. The film is a juxtaposition of World War I and an insane asylum, inspired by Bernard Shaw's play Heartbreak House...
, directed by Alexander SokurovAlexander SokurovAlexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark , filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust , which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.- Life and work...
(war filmWar filmWar films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
) - 19861986 in film-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
: Ампир / EmpireEmpire (1986 film)-Background:Empire was inspired by Lucille Fletcher's radio drama Sorry, Wrong Number. For the film, Sokurov, as often, selected a single motif from the work of inspiration - in this case it was the sickness of a woman....
, directed by Alexander SokurovAlexander SokurovAlexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark , filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust , which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.- Life and work...
(short film) - 19871987 in film-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
: Письма мёртвого человека / Dead Man's LettersDead Man's LettersDead Man's Letters , also known as Letters from a Dead Man, is a 1986 Soviet science fiction film directed by Konstantin Lopushansky and produced by Lenfilm studios.-Plot:...
(sci-fi) - 19901990 in filmThe year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
: Taxi blues co-production. - 19911991 in filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
: Афганский излом / Afghan BreakdownAfghan BreakdownAfghan Breakdown is a 1990 war drama film about the Soviet war in Afghanistan directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the Soviet Union...
(war filmWar filmWar films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
) - 19911991 in filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
: My best friend, General Vasili, son of Joseph Stalin , directed by Viktor Sadovsky, drama starring Boris Schcherbakov and Vladimir SteklovVladimir SteklovVladimir Andreevich Steklov was a Soviet/Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist.Steklov was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. In 1887, he graduated from the Kharkov University, where he was a student of Aleksandr Lyapunov. In 1889–1906 he worked at the Department of Mechanics of this...
. - 19951995 in film-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
: Особенности национальной охоты (comedy), directed by Aleksandr RogozhkinAleksandr Rogozhkin-Selected filmography:In 1990, he directed Karaul, which won the Alfred-Bauer Prize at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.Rogozhkin's film The Chekist was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival....
. - 19961996 in filmMajor releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
: Anna Karenina , directed by Bernard RoseBernard Rose (director)Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
, drama starring Sophie MarceauSophie MarceauSophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
and Sean BeanSean BeanShaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
, with Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
and Mia KirshnerMia KirshnerMia Kirshner is a Canadian actress and social activist who works in movies and television series. She is best known for her portrayal of Jenny Schecter on The L Word and for her role in the 2006 crime film The Black Dahlia as Elizabeth Short.- Early life :Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario,...
. - 2010: The Amazing Race 17The Amazing Race 17The Amazing Race 17 is the seventeenth installment of the reality television show The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race 17 features 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world....
had a task in which the teams must search through a thousand filmstrips for a filmstrip from October.
Several international productions were made in collaboration with "Lenfilm" such as: Anna Karenina was produced by Warner Bros. and Icon Intl., albeit many Lenfilm's actors, crew, and production facilities were involved in a similar way as the production of Синяя птица / The Blue Bird
The Blue Bird (1976 film)
The Blue Bird is a 1976 American/Soviet fantasy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes, and Aleksei Kapler is based on L'Oiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was the fifth screen adaptation of the play, following two silent films, the studio's 1940 version...
, and Franz Liszt. Dreams of love
Franz Liszt. Dreams of love
Szerelmi álmok – Liszt is a Hungarian-Soviet epic musical/drama produced and directed by Márton Keleti, based on the biography of Austrian-Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt.While the movie was criticized for some of its historical inaccuracies,...
, a Hungarian Mafilm production made in collaboration with Lenfilm.