[6] Aleksandr Drankov produced the first Russian narrative film Stenka Razin (1908), based on events told in a folk song and directed by Vladimir Romashkov.

His government gave top priority to the rapid development of the Soviet film industry, which was nationalized in August 1919 and put under the direct authority of Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya.

An important film of this period was Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin, not only because of its depiction of events leading up to the 1905 Revolution, but also because of innovative cinematic techniques, such as the use of jump-cuts to achieve political ends.

Immediately after the end of the Second World War, the Soviet color films such as The Stone Flower (1947) by Aleksandr Ptushko, Ballad of Siberia (1947), and Cossacks of the Kuban (1949), both by director Ivan Pyryev, were released.

The situation did not improve until the late 1950s when Soviet films achieved critical success partly as a result, similar to the cinema of other Eastern Bloc countries, for reflecting the tension between independent creativity and state-directed outcomes.

Yet, some films did not receive a wide release; The Story of Asya Klyachina (1966) by Andrei Konchalovsky, Commissar (1967) by Aleksandr Askoldov, Brief Encounters (1967) by Kira Muratova and Trial on the Road (1971) by Aleksei German.

[17][18] Other notable Soviet directors include Sergei Bondarchuk, Sergey Paradzhanov, Larisa Shepitko, Kira Muratova, Marlen Khutsiev, Mikhail Kalatozov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Menshov and Gleb Panfilov.

Most popular Soviet comedies of the era were directed by Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov and Georgiy Daneliya, such as Carnival Night (1956), The Irony of Fate (1976), Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967), Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965), The Twelve Chairs (1976), Walking the Streets of Moscow (1964), Gentlemen of Fortune (1971).

A respective amount of World War II dramas made in the 1970s and the 1980s were acclaimed internationally, some of which are Liberation (1971) by Yuri Ozerov, The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972) by Stanislav Rostotsky, They Fought for Their Country (1975) by Sergei Bondarchuk, The Ascent (1977) by Larisa Shepitko and Come and See (1985) by Elem Klimov.

Co-production between Soviet Union and Japan, Dersu Uzala, adapted from Vladimir Arsenyev's book, directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Maxim Munzuk and Yuri Solomin, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture in 1976.

[37] In 1990 Pavel Lungin won the Best Director Award for Taxi Blues, which starred rock musician Pyotr Mamonov in the lead role, at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

The Inner Circle is a 1991 drama film by Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky, telling the story of Joseph Stalin's private projectionist and KGB officer Ivan Sanchin (real name Alex Ganchin) between 1939 and 1953, the year Stalin died was nominated for awards at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival[49] The Chekist directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin was a drama set in the period of Red Terror and told the story of a Cheka leader who gradually becomes unhinged.

[54] The drama Burnt by the Sun (1994) by Nikita Mikhalkov is set in a small countryside community in the time when Stalinism starts to disrupt their idyllic retreat and alter their characters and fates.

[69] In the context of the Russian World War II history Pavel Chukhrai filmed The Thief (1997), a movie about a mother who becomes romantically involved with a criminal who impersonates an officer.

[76] Moloch, the first part of tetrology of power directed by Alexander Sokurov portrays Adolf Hitler living life in an unassuming manner during an abrupt journey to the Bavarian Alps, was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and won the Best Screenplay Award.

[78] The third part The Sun depicting Japanese Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) during the final days of World War II, was entered in the 55th Berlin International Film Festival.

The serialised novels by Boris Akunin set in pre-Revolutionary Russia evolve around fictional Erast Fandorin adventures in three popular movies: The Azazel (2002) by Aleksandr Adabashyan, The Turkish Gambit (2005) by Dzhanik Fayziev and The State Counsellor (2005) by Filipp Yankovsky.

Valeriya Gai Germanika received the "Special Mention" of the jury of the Camera d'Or competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for her feature debut Everybody Dies but Me.

Sci-fi picture Dark Planet (2008–2009) based on the book by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk, was one of the most expensive Russian films of the 2000s, with its budget of $36.6 million.

[103][104] The concept of a "screening certificate" first appeared in Russian laws in 1993, when Viktor Chernomyrdin signed the decree "On the registration of films and videos", the main purpose of which was to combat the spread of pirated content.

[116] 2011 romantic comedy Lucky Trouble directed by Levan Gabriadze and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, starred Hollywood actress Milla Jovovich who played the female lead opposite Konstantin Khabensky.

Other WWII films that were made in Russia included The Dawns Here Are Quiet (2015), Battle for Sevastopol (2015) Panfilov's 28 Men (2016), Sobibor (2018), Tankers (2018), T-34 (2019), Saving Leningrad (2019), The Last Frontier (2020), AK-47 (2020), A Siege Diary (2020), V2.

The film follows a year in the life of a family in Pyongyang, North Korea as their daughter Zin-mi prepares to join the Korean Children's Union on the Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il's birthday).

[143] 2017 science fiction action film Attraction directed and produced by Fyodor Bondarchuk became a box office hit, grossing more than 1 billion rubles[144] and becoming the highest-grossing Russian sci-fi movie.

[152][153][154][155] In 2018 The Man Who Surprised Everyone directed by Aleksey Chupov and Natasha Merkulova won Best Actress Award the Horizons (Orizzonti) section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

[165] Sin is a Russian-Italian biographical drama film about the life of the famous sculptor and painter of the Renaissance, Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence, in the early 16th century, written and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, released in October 2019.

is a 2018 Russian dark comedy thriller film directed by Kirill Sokolov and starring Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaly Khaev, Yevgenia Kregzhde and Yelena Shevchenko.

[169][170] The same year Shipenko directed the psychological thriller Text starring Alexander Petrov, which was also a success at the box-office and received a Nika and multiple Golden Eagle awards.

[183] It stars Oksana Akinshina as a young doctor who is recruited by the Soviet military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him.

[216] MIPTV in France won't allow "any Russian film and TV outfits" in 2022, and Russia has also been banned from the Banff World Media Festival and NATPE.