| Odesa Film Studio | |
| Type: | Closed Joint-stock company |
| Foundation: | 1919 |
| Location: | Frantsuz'ky Bulvar 33, Odesa, Ukraine |
| Key People: | Andrii Osipov (acting Chairman) |
| Industry: | Film |
| Products: | Motion pictures, TV films |
| Owner: | Government of Ukraine (50%+1) and Nova Film Studios LLC |
| Parent: | Odesa Film Studios of featured films Nova Film Studios |
| Homepage: | odesafilmstudio.com.ua |
Odesa Film Studio (Ukrainian: Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів, Russian: Одесская киностудия художественных фильмов) was a Ukrainian, formerly Soviet, film studio in Odesa. Founded in 1919, it was one of the first studios in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
It is partially owned by the government and supervised by the State Property Fund of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture. Together with Dovzhenko Film Studios, they are the only state-owned and major film producers in the country. The studio is located at 33 French Boulevard (33 Французский бульвар), in Odesa, Ukraine.[1]
It was founded on 23 May 1919 by the decision of the Odesa Governorate's Executive Committee, from the remnants of cinema studios of Myron Grossman, Dmitriy Kharitonov, and Borisov. It was one of the first domestic film producers in the Soviet Union. At first, it was listed as "Political film section of political department and of 41st Division of the Red Army", and the first feature film filmed under this name was the "Spiders and flies." The original studios went into decline after the Russian Civil War and the Ukrainian War of Independence, as their owners emigrated, running from political prosecution. Grossman's film studio "Myrograph" existed in Odesa since 1907 and was the oldest one recorded in Ukraine.
In 1922, it was reorganized into the "Odesa Film Factory of the All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration (VUFKU)". The Odesa film studio was the VUFKU’s main production facility. In 1926, Vyacheslav Levandovskyi and Deviatkin created an animation studio of VUFKU.
In 1930, VUFKU was reorganized into "Ukrainafilm" of "Soyuzkino" (Union-cinema).[2]
During the years of the Second World War (Eastern Front 1941-1945) it was part of the Tashkent Film Studio. By 1954 they returned to Odesa.[3]
In 1955, the Odesa Film Studio resumed its own film production. Director Alexander Gorky not only obtained permission to revive the studio, but also solved the personnel problem by inviting VGIK graduates — directors, cameramen, artists, and economists. Then the former students, who usually went for years as assistants, quickly got independent work. On November 26, 1956, the film by Felix Mironer and Marlen Khutsiev “Spring on Zarechnaya Street” was released, which became a significant event not only for the studio, but for the entire Soviet cinema.
In 1979, the Odesa Film Studio released The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed. It is the highest grossing film of the studio, and was popular throughout the Soviet Union.
In 2005, Odesa film studio was reorganized as a Closed Joint Stock Company, with the government owning the majority of shares.
In 2019, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin titled "100 years Odesa Film Studio"[4]
In addition, the main Ukraine post service issued a special anniversary stamp dedicated to the Odesa film studio.
The studio is located in the downtown right near the shore of Black Sea covering some 7ha and consisting of three pavilions of 600m2, 432m2, and 240m2. Inside the studio's building is located another film studio, Vira Kholodna Film Studio and the Odesa Film School. The Odesa Film Studio has its own movie theater, U-Cinema, which is also located in the same building.
Near the studio is the Museum of the Cinema.
On the territory of the Odesa film studio there is a cinema museum of the Odesa branch of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. The museum stores materials collected over the years of the existence of the Odesa Film Studio, film catalogs, photo albums of acting tests, information about directors and producers, film equipment, books, newspapers, film magazines, etc. In total, more than twelve thousand “storage units”.[5]