The Dovzhenko Film Studios () is a Ukrainian and former Soviet film production studio in UkrSSR and later Ukraine that was named after the Soviet film producer, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, in 1957. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the studio became a property of the government of Ukraine. In 2000, the film studio was awarded national status. It is one of the oldest and largest film studios in Ukraine.
History
The studios began in the 1920s when the All-Ukrainian Photo-Cinema-Directorate (VUFKU) announced a project proposition for the construction of a cinema factory in 1925. Out of 20 of them was chosen the project of Valerian Rykov, who led his architect group composed of students of the Architectural Department of Kyiv Art Institute in the construction of the O. Dovzhenko Film Studios beginning in 1927. It was at the time the largest in the Ukrainian SSR. Although the filming pavilions were still unfinished a year later, movie production had begun. Many memorial plates are within the studios in memory of the many film producers who had once worked here. One film pavilion is named Shchorsivskyi, because Oleksandr Dovzhenko shot his film Shchors there. This area of the studios is used as a museum.
The first movie of the film studio was "Ivanko and the Butcher" by director Aksel Lundin and cameraman A. Meines. Filming began on October 12, 1927, and took place at night, as pavilions were being built during the day. Many talented directors have come to the studio since the first films were shot — Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Arnold Kordium, Pavlo Dolyna, Leonid Lukov, Ivan Kavaleridze, Igor Savchenko, Favst Lopatynskyi; operators — Danylo Demutskyi, Yurii Yekelchyk, Mykola Topchii, Yozef Rona, I. Shekker, Oleksii Pankratiev; writers — Mykola Bazhan, Oleksandr Korniichuk, Hordii Brasiuk, V. Okhrimenko. It immediately affected the number and quality of the works and the variety of movie genres. In 1929, 10 films were already made.
Since 1930, cinema has become under the control of the state and has served to spread the ideology of communism among the population. Still, the 1930s for the Kyiv Film Factory were important years of formation.
In October 1941, the studio was evacuated to Tashkent, where it will continue its activities until the liberation of Kyiv. During the German occupation of Kyiv, the studio premises were used as a production base for the creation of propaganda films by the Ukraine Film Society.
The apple orchard on the side of the avenue near the studios was planted by the order of Dovzhenko himself. In 1957, it was named in memory of Oleksandr Dovzhenko.
Since 1987, the Debut, specialized in the first films of directors. His managers were Alexander Adolov (until 1990) and Arthur Voattsky (after 1990).
In December 2009, a studio for the digital restoration of Ukrainian films was opened on the complex., Interfax-Ukraine (December 17, 2009)
On 15 June 2026, the studio was attacked in a Russian strike on Kyiv, destroying a costume collection that contained approximately 100 thousand outfits and three million articles of clothing. Other buildings on the studio premises were also damaged. Russia claimed the studio had a production facility for Ukrainian drones.
The Dovzhenko National Film Studio is an enterprise with a full complex technological cycle. Along with the shooting of its own films, the film studio provides services to other film and television companies in the production of their products, belongs to the producers of national films in Ukraine, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 26 January 2011 No. 48.
Selected films
Soviet Union 1929 / Man with a Movie Camera, directed by Dziga Vertov (documentary film) 1930 / Earth, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko (silent film) 1932 / Ivan, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko (silent film) 1935 / Aerograd, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko (science fiction) 1939 / Shchors, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko (documentary film) 1941 / Bohdan Khmelnytsky, directed by Ihor Savchenko (historical) 1951 / Taras Shevchenko, directed by Ihor Savchenko (biographical) 1960 / Far from the Motherland, directed by Aleksei Shvachko (espionage) 1961 / Chasing Two Hares, directed by Viktor Ivanov (comedy) 1963 / Queen of the Gas Station, directed by Mykola Litus and (comedy) 1964 / Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, directed by Sergei Parajanov (historical) 1964 / The Andromeda Nebula, directed by Yevheniy Sherstobitov (science fiction) 1965 / A Spring for the Thirsty, directed by Yuri Ilyenko (surrealist) 1968 / Annychka, directed by Borys Ivchenko 1970 / White Bird with Black Mark, directed by Yuriy Illienko 1972 / The Lost Letter, directed by Borys Ivchenko (comedy) 1973 / Only Old Men are Going to Battle, directed by Leonid Bykov (historical) 1976 / Aty-baty, Soldiers were Going..., directed by Leonid Bykov (historical) 1976 / The Troubled Month of Veresen, directed by Leonid Osyka (historical) 1978 / Test pilota Pirxa, directed by Marek Piestrak 1980 / Yaroslav the Wise, directed by Hryhoriy Kokhan (historical) 1981 / Such Late, Such Warm Autumn, directed by Ivan Mykolaichuk 1988 / New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court, directed by Viktor Hres
Ukraine 1991 / Famine-33, directed by Oles Yanchuk 1991 / Miracle in the Land of Oblivion, directed by Natalia Motuzko 1995 / Assassination. An Autumn Murder in Munich, directed by Oles Yanchuk 1995 / Moskal-Charivnyk, directed by Mykola Zasieyev-Rudenko 1997 / A Friend of the Deceased, directed by Viacheslav Kryshtofovych 2000 / The Undefeated (2000 film), directed by Oles Yanchuk 2001 / Prayer for Hetman Mazepa, directed by Yuriy Illienko 2002 / Chorna Rada (), directed by Mykola Zasieiev-Rudenko 2004 / The Company Of Heroes, directed by Oles Yanchuk 2008 / Metropolitan Andrey, directed by Oles Yanchuk 2008 / The Law, directed by Vitaliy Potrukh (short film) 2009 / Let God Judge Them, directed by Yevhen Khvorostianko (short film) 2012 / Haidamaka, directed by Roman Synchuk (short film) 2012 / The Butterfly, directed by Maxim Neafit Bujnicki 2012 / Mom, I Love a Pilot!, directed by Oleksandr Ihnatusha 2013 / Krasna Malanka, directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk 2015 / Lost City, directed by Vitaliy Potrukh
See also Kyivnaukfilm List of Ukrainian films National Cinematheque of Ukraine Odessa Film Studio History of Ukrainian animation
References
Ruta Malikenaite. Guildebook: Touring Kyiv. Kyiv: Baltia Druk, 2003.
External links
Non-official site of Olexandr Dovzhenko Film Studios