By Maksim Kerdzialevich TWA ______ Belarusfilm, under the name Belgoskino was founded in 1924. It has produced many feature, documentary, popular science and animation films. The first film shot at the studio was «The Forest Past» by Yuri Tarich. Among the most famous feature films of different years are the popular «White Dew», «Alpine Ballad» by Boris Stepanov, «People from the Swamp» by Viktor Turov, «Dunechka» by Alexander Efremov and «Fortress of War» by Alexander Kott. In 1928, the Soviet Belarus studio was founded in Leningrad and moved to Minsk in 1939. Film production was interrupted by World War II, and restarted in 1946.

After World War II, the studio was dubbed Partizan film, 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! Consistent animated film production, however, did not begin until 1972. The studio has to date made 131 animated films. In 1995, on the 50th Anniversary of the victory over fascism, UNESCO compiled a list of 100 most significant films of the world about the World War II. It included the Belarusian picture «Through the Cemetery» by Viktor Turov. the National Film Studio «Belarusfilm» has produced more than 650 feature films, about 2 thousand documentaries and about 300 animated films. In 2013, the Minsk International Film Festival «Listapad» was permanently accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers' Associations - FIAPF. More than 50 top-class film festivals, including Berlin, Venice and Cannes, are among those accredited by FIAPF.

In November 2024, the jubilee XXX Minsk International Film Festival «Listapad» was held, which was attended by more than 30 thousand people. The main themes were the 100th Anniversary of Belarusian cinema and the 30th Anniversary of the festival. About 130 films from more than 40 countries were shown at the event. Pakistan also participated in the film festival, where three films were shown: “Nayab”, “Superstar”, and “Umro Ayyar”. Belarus is rightfully proud of talented directors, actors, cameramen who have created the golden fund of the country's national cinema with their works. The modern generation is not far behind the masters. Today, new names are born, bright films appear, which win the recognition of viewers all over the world.

Guest Auther:

Maksim Kerdzialevich The writer of this article, Maksim Kerdzialevich is a diplomat serving as a Second Secretary at Embassy of Belarus in Pakistan