| Felix Mikhailovich Sobolev | |
| Native Name: | Соболєв Фелікс Михайлович |
| Native Name Lang: | uk |
| Birth Date: | 25 July 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Kharkov, Ukraine SSR, USSR |
| Death Place: | Kyiv, Ukraine SSR, USSR |
| Citizenship: | USSR |
| Occupation: | Filmmaker |
| Years Active: | 1960–1984 |
| Known For: | Scientific films |
| Credits: | , which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |
| Works: | , which produces label "Works"; or by |
| Label Name: | , which produces label "Label(s)" --> |
| Office: | may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) --> |
| Movement: | Kyiv School of Scientific Cinema |
Felix Mikhailovich Sobolev (1931–1984) was a Soviet Ukrainian documentary filmmaker and a founder and leader of the Kiev School of Scientific Cinema. He received numerous honours for his works, including Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, the MV Lomonosov Prize of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and the USSR State Prize.
Felix Sobolev was born on 25 July 1931 in Kharkiv, Ukraine SSR, the son of a worker. He enrolled at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University and graduated from the acting program in 1953 and the directing program in 1959.
In 1959, Sobolev began working for Kievnauchfilm (the Kyiv Film Studio of Popular Science Films), a state film studio in Kyiv. In 1973, he became artistic director of the studio of scientific cinema at his alma mater.
He was a member of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR from 1956.
Sobolev died on 20 April 1984 in Kyiv. He was buried in the .
In the mid-1960s, Sobolev revolutionized the concept of popular science cinematography. His films (1967), (1969) and (1968) were broadly popular, selling out cinemas. His "experiment in the frame" technique made the audience member a witness to experiments proposed by scientists. By the 1970s, Sobolev became disillusioned with the physical sciences, according to his student Alexander Rodnyansky, and began to make films about psychology. Radical for its time, his 1971 film made the audience part of an experiment on conformal behaviour and group pressure.
The direction of his work changed with the 1974 short film, a film essay about the world and a person's place in it. This was followed by the 10-minute film Feat which was shot in close quarters. Both films made intensive use of combined filming and had significant impact on the development of non-fiction films of the time.
Sobolev also influenced a generation of students at the Institute of Theatre Arts and young directors at Kievnauchfilm, where he was the undisputed leader. These included Rodnyansky,,, Yosif Pasternak, and Andrei Zagdansky.
In Cinema Art, Sergey Trimbach writes that Sobolev was at the center of one of the two great film movements in Kyiv in the 1960s and 1970s. The other circle was led by Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, who was censured as his cinematic style opposed Soviet principles. In contrast, Sobolev continued the tradition of Russian intelligentsia, believing in the endless potential of human capabilities, as in his 1978 film Dare, you are talented. Yet, he was not politically motivated, basing Exploded Dawn on the work of a dissident and taking political risks by examining conformity and free thought in Me and Others. Sobolev came into conflict with the party committee over Kyiv Symphony (1982), the last film he completed, which was re-edited seven times to meet political demands and left Sobolev angry and with a damaged reputation.
Sobolev's notable film works include:
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| List of awards and prizes for film work | ||||||
| Year | Festival or award | Country | Prize | Work | Ref | |
| 1966 | Zonal Film Festival in Leningrad | Prize and diploma for the first place | Exploded Dawn | |||
| 1967 | Zonal Film Festival "Prometheus-67" in Tbilisi | First degree diploma of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR | ||||
| Lomonosov Prize | First Degree Honorary Diploma | The Language of Animals | ||||
| 1968 | III All-Union Film Festival in Leningrad | 2nd prize and diploma | ||||
| XXII Congress of the International Scientific Film Association in Rome | Italy | Honorary Diploma | ||||
| 1969 | XII Leipzig International Film Festival | East Germany | Golden Dove Prize | |||
| Phnom Penh International Film Festival | Cambodia | Silver Cup Prize | ||||
| Tehran International Children's and Youth Film Festival | Iran | Jury Gold Prize | ||||
| Belgrade International Conservation Film Festival | Yugoslavia | Honorary Diploma | ||||
| VII International Science Fiction Film Festival in Trieste | Italy | Grand Prix "Golden Asteroid" | Seven steps beyond the horizon | |||
| X Review of Documentary and Popular Science Films in Leningrad | USSR | First Degree Prize and Diploma | ||||
| II Republican Festival of Children and Youth Films in Odessa | Diploma | |||||
| 1971 | Olomouc International Film Festival | Czechoslovakia | Prize and diploma | Me and others | ||
| Budapest International Nature Film Festival | Hungary | Gold medal and diploma | The Language of Animals | |||
| XXV Congress of the International Scientific Film Association in Kiev | USSR | Honorary Diploma | Do animals think | |||
| XIV Leipzig International Film Festival | East Germany | Golden Dove Prize | ||||
| 1972 | Tehran International Educational Film Festival | Iran | Golden Dolphin Prize and Diploma | |||
| USSR | The Language of Animals & Do animals think | |||||
| 1973 | VIII Moscow Film Festival in Moscow | Prize | Walking into the Flame | |||
| 1974 | IX International Technical Film Competition within the XI UNIATEC Congress in Salerno | Italy | Grand Prix for the development of new filming methods | Biosphere | Time of awareness | |
| World's Fair in Spokane | US | Diploma and prize | ||||
| TV Association | Diploma and prize | |||||
| 1976 | Olomouc International Film Festival | Czechoslovakia | Grand Prize | Feat | ||
| 1977 | X All-Union Film Festival in Riga | USSR | Grand Prize | At the origins of humanity | ||
| Venice International Film Festival | Italy | Grand Prize | ||||
| 1986 | XIX All-Union Film Festival in Alma-Ata | USSR | Main prize in the category "Popular science film" | Your brain is on target | [1] | |
F. Sobolev Street in Kyiv was named for him, with a memorial plaque at 17 Franka Street. Another memorial plaque at 19 in Kyiv states: Here during the years 1964–1981 one of the geniuses of Ukrainian and world cinema Felix Sobolev (1931–1984) lived and worked here.
The Kievnauchfilm charitable foundation is named for Sobolev. Asteroid 5940 Feliksobolev, discovered in 1981, was named for him.
Sobolev is the subject of the nine-part 1998 documentary series Felix Sobolev, Mission Interrupted (Ukrainian «Фелікс Соболев. Увірвана місія») by his student and colleague Olender and of a film of the 2012 "Native People" series by Yulia Rudenko.