Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production company with its own

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners and several private film studios which operate on the premises. Since October 2012, the Chairman of the board of directors is Fyodor Bondarchuk.

History

Before Lenfilm

St. Petersburg was home to several Russian and French film studios since the early 1900s. In 1908, St. Petersburg businessman Vladislav Karpinsky opened his film factory Omnium 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 Mayakovsky and

Lilya Brik Lilya Yuryevna Brik (alternatively spelled ''Lili'' or ''Lily''; russian: link=no, Ли́ля Ю́рьевна Брик; née Kagan; – August 4, 1978) was a Russian author and socialite, connected to many leading figures in the Russian avant ...

made their first silent films, released in 1917 and 1918. Lenfilm's property was originally under 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. Composer

Peter Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

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 ballet '' The Nutcracker''. Famous Russian bass singer Feodor Chaliapin performed there in the 1910s and the early 1920s. Stars of the Soviet era also gave performances there, such as Isaak Dunaevsky, and Leonid Utyosov with his jazz band during the 1920s and 1930s.

Petrograd and Leningrad film industry

The facilities and land of the Leningrad 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 Mikhailovich Kozintsev (russian: link=no, Григорий Михайлович Козинцев; 11 May 1973) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 1965 ...

, Iosif Kheifets, Sergei Eisenstein, Sergei Yutkevich,

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

, Nikolai Akimov,

Yuri Tynyanov Yury Nikolaevich Tynyanov ( rus, Ю́рий Никола́евич Тыня́нов, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ tɨˈnʲænəf; October 18, 1894 – December 20, 1943) was a Soviet Union, Soviet writer, literary criticism, literary cr ...

, Veniamin Kaverin, Viktor Shklovsky, and the writers of Serapion Brothers, as well as many other figures of Russian and Soviet culture.

Lenfilm

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 World War II and the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

, 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 fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

. There Lenfilm temporarily merged with other Soviet film studios into the Central United Film Studio (TsOKS). Lenfilm returned to Leningrad in 1944. Today in the Aquarium Theater there is a stage where many famous Lenfilm pictures were shot and many film stars played their roles. In 1975 George Cukor made a film there called '' The Blue Bird''.

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

was there, playing ''Queen of light'' in that film.

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...

and Ava Gardner also worked there, at Stage # 4, the prior Aquarium Theatre. ''Orlando'' was partly filmed there with Tilda Swinton.

Afghan Breakdown ''Afghan Breakdown'' (russian: Афганский излом, translit. Afganskiy Izlom) is a 1991 war drama film about the Soviet–Afghan War directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the Soviet Union ( Lenfilm). Michele Pla ...

was shot there 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 and Oscar-winning actors and actresses who worked with Lenfilm. By the end of the Soviet Union era, Lenfilm had produced about 1,500 films. Many film

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

were produced at Lenfilm throughout its history and some of these were granted international awards at various film festivals.

Today

After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, 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 tightly connected with world celebrities, such as those mentioned as well as

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was an Austrian-born Swiss actor, who also wrote, directed and produced some of his own films. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1961 American film ''Judgment at Nuremberg'', h ...

, Marina Vlady, Julia Ormond, Michael Caine, William Hurt,

Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and ''La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Act ...

, Sean Bean, Sandrine Bonnaire, Gérard Philipe, and with many great Russians, such as Vladimir Mayakovsky,

, Alexander Ney, Kirill Lavrov, Daniil Granin,

Pavel Kadochnikov Pavel Petrovich Kadochnikov (russian: Павел Петрович Кадочников; – 2 May 1988) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1979) and Hero of Socialist Labour ...

, Aleksandr Demyanenko, and Sergey Kuryokhin. In 2004 Kinostudiya Lenfilm was re-organized into a privately owned company. In 2007 Kinostudiya Lenfilm, together with

Apple IMC An Apple independent marketing company (IMC) is a discontinued name for an independent company authorised to be a distributor for the computer manufacturer Apple Computer Inc. Apple Computer marketing manager Brian Seligmann described IMCs as "supe ...

, 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

See :Lenfilm films * 1934: '' Chapaev /'' , directed by Brothers Vasilyev * 1947: '' Zolushka /'' (

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of Cinderella) * 1949: '' Alexander Popov'' / (biographical film) * 1954: ''The Boys from Leningrad /'' , starring Georgi Vitsin, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, and

* 1956: '' Old Khottabych (''aka'' The Flying Carpet) /'' directed by Gennadi Kazansky, starring

Nikolai Volkov Volkov (russian: Во́лков), or Volkova (feminine; Во́лкова), is a common Russian surname. It is derived from the word волк (''volk'', meaning "wolf"). Geographical distribution As of 2014, 79.6% of all known bearers of the surname ...

and Alesha Litvinov * 1960: '' The Lady with the Dog /'' directed by Iosif Kheifets, starring Iya Savvina and

Aleksey Batalov Aleksey Vladimirovich Batalov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Влади́мирович Бата́лов; 20 November 1928 – 15 June 2017) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, film director, screenwriter and pedagogue acclaimed f ...

* 1960: '' The Queen of Spades /'' (

) * 1962: '' Amphibian Man /'' (

) directed by Gennadi Kazansky, starring Anastasiya Vertinskaya and

Mikhail Kozakov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kozakov (in Russian: Михаил Михайлович Козаков) (14 October 1934, Leningrad – 22 April 2011, Ramat Gan) was a Soviet, Russian and Israeli film and theatre director and actor. Biography Early life ...

* 1963: ''

Kain XVIII ''Cain XVIII'' (russian: Каин XVIII) is a 1963 film from the Soviet Union, adapted from Evgeny Shvarts' play, ''Two friends''. The Soviet film industry reported that 21.7 million spectators saw the film. Plot A famous inventor ("The Profes ...

/'' , directed by Erast Garin (

) * 1964: '' Hamlet /'' , directed by

(drama), the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, 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 prestigious and distinguishe ...

Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1962 nominated and Special Jury Prize winner * 1968: '' Dead Season /'' (spy film), directed by Savva Kulish, and starring Donatas Banionis and Rolan Bykov *1969: '' Prince Igor'', directed by Roman Tikhomirov, and starring

Boris Khmelnitsky Boris Alexandrovich Khmelnitsky (russian: Борис Александрович Хмельницкий; born on 27 June 1940 in Ussuriysk, died on 16 February 2008 in Moscow) was a Russian theatre and movie actor. Biography He worked many years ...

* 1970: ''

Franz Liszt. Dreams of love Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

/'' (drama), directed by Márton Keleti, and starring Imre Sinkovits and

Ariadna Shengelaya Ariadna Vsevolodovna Shengelaya (née Shprink) (russian: Ариа́дна Все́володовна Шенгела́я; born 13 January 1937) is a Soviet actress. She appeared in 33 films between 1957 and 1997. She was married to the Georgian ...

. * 1971: ''

Dauria Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe an ...

/'' , directed by Viktor Tregubovich (

) starring Vitaly Solomin and Yefim Kopelyan * 1976: '' The Blue Bird / '', directed by George Cukor (

) starring

* 1976: ''Twenty Days Without War /'' , directed by Aleksei German * 1978: '' The Lonely Voice of Man /'' , directed by

Alexander Sokurov Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Сокуров; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''Russian Ark'' (2002), filmed in a s ...

(drama) * 1980: ''

The Degraded ''The Degraded'' (russian: Разжалованный , translit=Razzhalovannïy) is the second film by Alexander Sokurov. It was released in 1980 and is of 30 minutes duration. Background This film was Sokurov's first feature at Lenfilm. It was r ...

/'' , directed by

(short film) * 1981: '' The Hound of the Baskervilles /'' , directed by Igor Maslennikov (

) * 1982: '' The Queen of Spades /'' , directed by Igor Maslennikov (

) * 1982: '' Golos /'' , directed by Ilya Averbakh, (drama) starring Natalya Sayko and Leonid Filatov * 1983: '' Painful Indifference /'' , directed by

( war film) * 1986: '' Empire / '', directed by

(short film) * 1987: '' Dead Man's Letters /'' (sci-fi) * 1989: ''

Vagrant Bus ''Vagrant Bus'' (russian: Бродячий автобус, Brodyachiy avtobus) is a 1990 Soviet drama film, filmed at the studio Lenfilm by the director Iosif Kheifits. Story The film tells about the artists one theater. This is a wandering troupe ...

(The Stray Bus)'', directed by Joseph Kheifits, drama * 1990: ''

Taxi Blues ''Taxi Blues'' (russian: Такси-блюз, translit. Taksi-Blyuz) is a 1990 Soviet drama film directed by Pavel Lungin. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where Lungin won the award for Best Director. The film was selec ...

'' co-production. * 1991: ''

/'' ( war film) * 1991: '' My best friend, General Vasili, son of Joseph Stalin /'' , directed by Viktor Sadovsky, drama starring Boris Schcherbakov and Vladimir Steklov * 1995: '' Peculiarities of the National Hunt /'' (comedy), directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin * 1996: '' Anna Karenina /'' , directed by Bernard Rose, drama starring

and Sean Bean, with Alfred Molina and Mia Kirshner * 2010: '' The Amazing Race 17'' had a task in which the teams had to search through piles of filmstrips for a filmstrip from October * 2011: '' The White Guard /'' , first adaption of the novel by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

with Konstantin Khabensky and Mikhail Porechenkov. Directed by

Sergey Snezhkin Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are ...

* 2012: ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

/'' , TV series directed by Andrey Kavun, starring Igor Petrenko,

Andrei Panin Andrei Vladimirovich Panin (russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Па́нин; 28 May 1962 – 6 March 2013) was a Nika Award-winner Russian actor appearing in film and television, and a director. Biography Early life Panin was bo ...

, Mikhail Boyarsky and Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė * 2012: ''Idolatress /'' * 2013: '' Hard to be a God /'' * 2015: ''

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

'', directed by

Igor Zaitsev Igor Arkadyevich Zaitsev (russian: Игорь Аркадьевич Зайцев; born 27 May 1938) is a Russian grandmaster of chess. Early life and family Zaitsev was born in Ramenskoye, a town outside Moscow. His Armenian father, Arkady Gevo ...

* 2017: '' Bird /'' (comedy-drama), directed by Ksenia Baskakova

References

External links

Lenfilm official site
{{Authority control Film production companies of Russia Film production companies of the Soviet Union Companies based in Saint Petersburg Russian film studios Russian brands State-owned film companies Mass media in Saint Petersburg Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union Mass media companies established in 1908 1908 establishments in the Russian Empire Government-owned companies of Russia Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt