This year the domestic cinema celebrates its 100th anniversary. We recommend you to visit the Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema and now we are going to tell you why it's worth visiting.

The museum was founded more than half a century ago at the Belarusfilm studio. It collected and saved the most valuable materials about the development of screen art in Belarus. For some time the institution worked at the domestic “film factory”. Since 2002, the rich collection has become available to everyone. The museum is located in a three-story building which was built in the first half of the twentieth century near Independence Square.

Where did the first cinemas appear in Belarus? How were the most famous films made? What moments have remained behind the scenes? You will learn all the secrets of film production and the most interesting facts from history from the exhibition.

Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema

Particular attention is paid to the legendary film directors who stood at the origins of Belarusian cinema. Yuri Tarich directed the first domestic feature film “Forest Story” based on the story “The Swineherd” by Mikhas Charot. Vladimir Korsh-Sablin is also considered one of the pioneers of Belarusian cinema. He began his career as an assistant to Yuri Tarich, and later became the artistic director of the national film studio Belarusfilm.

The exhibition includes rare equipment for filming, editing and display, costumes, scenery sketches, photographs, and scripts. For example, visitors can see items that belonged to Viktor Turov, Mikhail Ptashuk and other legends of Belarusian art.

The special pride of the collection are posters for the domestic films. The earliest date back to the 1920s. In those days many famous artists and designers worked on posters. They did not just depict the most spectacular film stills, but created original works akin to real artistic masterpieces. The museum’s collection also includes posters for the first Belarusian film “Forest Story”. To assemble such an impressive collection, museum staff had to search the archives for more than 15 years.

In a separate hall, decorated as a retro cinema, films from the golden fund are shown. You can see the films not only during retrospectives dedicated to the anniversaries of famous filmmakers and thematic programs, but also on individual orders.

The museum is being transformed for the anniversary. The full scale of changes will be assessed at the end of the year.