Belarusfilm is the main film studio of Belarus.[1] It is also the oldest film studio in Belarus
Belarusfilm, under the name Belgoskino was founded in 1924.[2][3][4] The first film shot by Belgoskino was "Forest Story," also known as "Tale of the Woods." Yuri Tarich was the director.[5]
In 1928, the Soviet Belarus studio (Савецкая Беларусь) was founded in Leningrad and moved to Minsk in 1939.[6] Film production was interrupted by World War II, and restarted in 1946, when the studio assumed its current name. After World War II, the studio was dubbed Partizanfilm, due to the large output of films portraying the Soviet partisan's struggle against Nazi occupation.
In Soviet times, the studio was also renowned for its children's films. Its first project was a co-production with Soyuzmultfilm in 1963 – a stop motion feature film called ''Attention! The Magician is in the City!''[7] Consistent animated film production, however, did not begin until 1972. The studio has to date made 131 animated films.[8]
Most of the output has been in Russian rather than Belarusian.
Belarusfilm is also a co-organizer of the Listapad film festival annually held in Minsk, Belarus in November.
Among the early, Soviet-era directors who oversaw films for the studio are: Alexander Faintsimmer, Oleg Frelikh, Vladimir Gardin, Vladimir Korsh-Sablin, Grigori Roshal, Boris Shpis, Yuri Tarich and Mikhail Verner.
In 2012, Sergei Loznitsa’s In the Fog shot jointly with Belarusfilm won the FIPRESCI prize at the 65th Cannes Film Festival. In 2013, Belarusfilm presented 5 shorts at Cannes.[9]
In 2019, a major portion of an Indian movie Squad was shot at Belarusfilm. It is the first Bollywood film to be shot in Belarus. The movie Enemy Lines was also shot in Belarus.
In 2019, Belarusfilm signed a memorandum of long-term cooperation with the Indian Union of Trade and Industry Promotion Organization.[10]
In 2024, the studio announced working on its first 3D animated fantasy film.[11]
