August 27 — Russian Cinema Day: history, traditions, interesting facts

Every year on August 27, Russian Cinema Day is celebrated in Russia, dedicated to one of the most popular and spectacular art forms. In 2025, it falls on a Wednesday. Read about the history and traditions of the holiday in the Izvestia article.

Russian Cinema Day — 2025: the history of the holiday

The history of Russian Cinema Day goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. It was on August 27, 1919, that the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was adopted, according to which the entire film industry of the country came under state control. This step marked the beginning of the systematic development of domestic film production and the strengthening of the role of cinema as the most important instrument of social and cultural influence.

The official status of the professional holiday was granted in 1980 in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Over the next decades, it underwent a number of changes — its name changed, dates were adjusted, and in certain periods it disappeared from the official calendar altogether. Only since 2001, at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Day of Russian Cinema has been celebrated annually again.

Cinema was a part of Russia's cultural life long before cinema became a state-owned industry. The first Russian feature film, "Ponizovaya Volnitsa" ("Stenka Razin"), was presented to the public in 1908. The film directed by Vladimir Romashkov, based on the song "Because of the island on Strezhen", lasted only seven minutes, but marked the beginning of a large‑scale film process in the country. In the following years, Vladimir Gardin, Yakov Protazanov, Evgeny Bauer and other directors formed the national film school, actively mastering the genres of melodrama, film adaptation and historical epic.

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In 1911, with the participation of Emperor Nicholas II, the film "The Defense of Sevastopol" was shot — the first film in Russia with large-scale battle scenes. By the mid-1910s, the first stars of Russian cinema shone on the screen — Vera Kholodnaya, Ivan Mozzhukhin, Vladimir Maksimov.

After the 1917 revolution, a significant number of cinematographers emigrated. A new era has begun in Soviet Russia — cinema has become an important element of ideological politics. In the 1920s, in the wake of the avant-garde, directors Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov brought the art of cinema to a fundamentally new level. Battleship Potemkin became the first feature film of the USSR to be recognized abroad. It was awarded at the International Exhibition in Paris and became one of the best films in the history of world cinema.

In the 1930s, sound films appeared in the USSR - the first such film was Nikolai Ekk's "A Start in Life" about the re-education of street children. A new generation of directors, such as the Vasiliev brothers, Mikhail Romm, and Friedrich Ermler, created patriotic films, shaping the heroic image of the revolution and civil war among Soviet citizens. Grigory Alexandrov's musical comedies with Lyubov Orlova were popular during this period.

During the Great Patriotic War, cinema changed its focus — films such as "Invasion", "Rainbow", "Zoya", told about the feat of the people. Later, in the 1950s and 60s, during the "thaw", new names appeared in the cinema: Mikhail Kalatozov, Grigory Chukhray, Marlen Khutsiev. And the film "Cranes are Flying" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival — for the first time in the history of Soviet cinema.

The mid-1960s were marked by pressure on auteur cinema, but the industry lived and developed. Masterpieces by Andrei Tarkovsky, Gleb Panfilov, Larisa Shepitko, as well as legendary comedies by Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov, and Georgy Danelia, which became folk classics, were released on the screens.

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In the 1970s and 80s, Soviet cinema achieved record popularity. This period became the peak of mass film distribution — tens of millions of viewers visited cinemas every year, and the films "Moscow does not believe in tears" and "Pirates of the 20th Century" set records for collections. Russian films have been recognized internationally, from Sergei Bondarchuk's "War and Peace" to Nikita Mikhalkov's "Tired of the Sun", which won Academy Awards.

After the collapse of the USSR, the industry experienced a serious crisis. Funding has been cut, rental has collapsed, and new projects have become rare. However, already in the 2000s, Russian cinema experienced a renaissance. There have been high-profile premieres, new genres and young directors. In recent years, Russian films have shown steady growth at the box office. The films Cheburashka and Challenge became box office leaders, and the participation of actors and cameramen in filming beyond the Earth opened a new page in the history of world cinema.

Traditions of celebrating the Day of Russian Cinema

On August 27, Russia hosts many events reflecting the richness and diversity of Russian cinema.:

• Russian Cinema Day honors outstanding representatives of the film industry, whose work had a significant impact on the formation and development of Russian cinema.;
• Retrospectives and premieres of Russian films are shown in cinemas.;
• Thematic exhibitions, lectures, and film screenings are opening in museums and libraries.;
• Professional film studios and educational institutions organize workshops, pitching sessions, and meetings with film personalities.;
• Themed tours of the filming locations are available.;
• Open screenings and creative evenings are held at the central venues of the cities.

Interesting facts about Russian cinema

• The first Russian cartoon was shot in 1912. It was called "The Beautiful Lucanida, or the War of barbels and horns" and told about the life of insects. The director used real bugs, setting them in motion with a thin wire.;
• In Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, there was only one frame in color — a red flag, hand-painted by the director;
• The record year for cinema attendance was 1971, when 4.8 billion tickets were sold in the USSR with a population of about 244 million people.;
• In 1975, the Soviet-Japanese film Dersu Uzala, based on the works of Vladimir Arsenyev, was shot at the Mosfilm film studio, telling about the deep human relationship between a Russian explorer and a hunter from the Nanai people. The legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa participated in its creation. For the master, it was the first film in a foreign language and the only one shot on large-format film. In 1976, he won the prestigious Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film;
• During the Second World War, Hollywood became interested in Soviet cinema. American studios began to reshoot popular Soviet films, rethinking their plot and locations to meet the demands of their audience. So, in 1942, one of the leading US film studios decided to create its own version of Mikhail Romm's war drama "Thirteen" (1936).

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the history and traditions of the Russian National Flag Day.