Lenfilm (Russia)

Background: The history of the studio started in 1908 when Vladislav Karpinsky created his Omnium-Kino at Kino-Aquarium in St. Petersburg. After the revolution (in 1918) all the studio's property was nationalized and Aquarium facilities passed into Sevzapkino (North-western regional photo and film administration). In 1924 the factory renamed Leningradkino and through other names, came to Lenfilm in 1934. Lenfilm Studio became one of the best known Soviet movie companies, and it was the second biggest production entry in former Soviet Union (after Mosfilm). The famous logo, depicting the Bronze Horseman statue in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad, hence the name), was introduced in 1966, though Lenfilm has other logos before it.

1st Logo (1940s)



Logo: More looking like a logo. This one features name ???????? in fancy italics font. The letter ? is replaced with filmstrip and other letters are shifted up and down from normal case. The filmstrip goes into both directions, creating loose ends above (with text reading ?????? ??????) and below (with text reading ?????????? Year).

FX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common.

Scare Factor: None.

5th Logo (1966- )

Nickname: "The Bronze Horseman", "The Copper Horseman"

Logo: The picture of Bronze Horseman, the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, zooms in. It's crossed by two static searchlights, coming from the side letters of the word ???????? written below in 3D white font. Then the searchlights go down, and the name fades out. Current version has the searchlights made in different way. They go up at the starting point, and the whole logo then fades out.

FX: The searchlights going up or down.

Variants: In the first years, the logo was black and white, then it was tinted in a greenish color. In latest years, the logo was redrawn to look more realistic: the letters are less 3D, the searchlights are blue and the statue is copper-colored. On Wedding in Malinovka the logo is on a red background. On Peculiarities of the National Hunt the logo is still and is in a box at the top of the screen. Under it the words Lenfilm Filmstudio and Cinematographic Committee of the Russian Federation in Russian fade in. The logo was seen sharing the screen with Krupny Plan, on the remastered DVD releases by latter.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Common, at least on Soviet era films.

Scare Factor: None.