Cinematography
The history of the Belarusian cinema dates back to the black and white silent film “Forest Story” shot in Leningrad in 1926. Belarus set up its own film studio in Minsk in 1939. Seven years later the film studio was named Belarusfilm.
Today Belarusfilm is one of the leading film studios in Eastern Europe. The studio has a full production cycle and is capable of producing up to 15 feature films, 40 chronicle and documentary films and ten animated films a year. Belarusfilm also provides its services to film producers from other countries.
The film studio is home to one of the most popular theaters in Belarus, the Cinema Actor's Theater Studio. This theater has gone all the way from an experimental platform to one of the most attended theaters in the Belarusian capital.
In 2019, the film studio presented its works at 70 international film festivals and won 49 awards. Belarusian Cinema Days were held in six countries.
The International Film Festival Listapad brings the best films to Minsk every November. The first cinema forum took place in 1994. The festival is held under the patronage of the President. The main feature and documentary film competition program of the forum is meant to present new films made in the CIS countries, Central and South-East Asia, Baltic countries, Eastern and Central Europe. The films, which have been recognized at the most prestigious film festivals across the globe, vie for the main award of the Minsk International Film Festival.
The Youth on the March competition presents a collection of debut works by filmmakers who have already won the recognition of professionals and spectators. The Minsk International Film Festival Listapad features seven international panels of judges. The most honorable awards of the festival are the Listapad Gold Grand Prix for the Best Film, the Grand Prix for the Best Documentary, the Listapadzik Gold Grand Prix for the Best Film for Children, and the FIPRESCI Award. The festival week features more than 230 screenings at five venues. Master-classes, retrospectives, exhibitions complement the program of the festival. Every year about 40,000 spectators and more than 100 guests from different countries visit the International Film Festival Listapad.
About 20 non-governmental film studios are engaged in film production in Belarus today.
The national cinema network comprises 99 stationary cinema houses (125 halls, 103 of which are equipped with 3D digital projection equipment). Cinema services in rural areas are provided by 616 video projection units, including mobile ones.