[1] Studio traced its history from 1927, when a special newsreel division of Sovkino was formed.
In 1931 it was reorganized into All-Union Newsreel Factory (Russian: Союзкинохроника, romanized: Soyuzkinochronicle).
From 1944 until 1993, it was known as Central Studio for Documentary Film or CSDF (Russian: Центральная студия документальных фильмов, ЦСДФ).
In Soviet Union, the CSDF was responsible for some newsreel series, like: In 1944–1946 the studio director was Sergei Gerasimov.
The studio produced a number of documentary films about the Great Patriotic War, including Moscow Strikes Back, winner of the 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary.