State Committee for Cinematography
State Committee for Cinematography, known as Goskino, was the Soviet Union’s top government body in charge of film production and censorship. Its name and structure changed many times. The main film authority in the RSFSR until 1924 was Goskino, after which Sovkino took over (1924–1930s), followed by Soyuzkino (around 1930–1933) and then several other agencies, including GUKF, the Central Committee for Cinema Affairs, and the Ministry of the Cinema, until 1963.
In 1963, Goskino USSR was recreated as the State Committee of the Council of Ministers on Cinematography. From 1965 to 1972 it was called the Committee on Cinematography of the Council of Ministers, then briefly returned to its original name, and from 1978 to 1991 it was the State Committee of the USSR on Cinematography. It was abolished in 1991. In 1992 Roskino was created and later renamed the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Cinematography, the modern body in charge of filmmaking and censorship in Russia. Roskino was dissolved in May 2008 by a presidential decree.
Sovkino aimed to streamline film production, cut foreign imports, and ensure ideological content. It managed an editing bureau to reedit imported films. There were cheap screenings for workers at local clubs, which critics said favored profit over ideology. Some critics, like Adrian Piotrovsky, argued that foreign films dominated profits. These tensions contributed to Sovkino’s decline and its replacement by Soyuzkino.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:14 (CET).