A Golden Age of Belarusian Cinemas.
1911-1914
Mozyr
The one theater in Mozyr went through multiple owners before 1913, leaving behind frustrated movie-goers and correspondents. The latter proved that sarcasm was not dead in Mozyr. When, apparently, the local theater, under owner number two, was finally allowed to show The Funeral of Tolstoy, or something related to his death, wrote, “Electricity was claimed from the depths of the pumping station; the volume is improved; The foyer has been adapted. But the room, after all, was too small and low; the electricity fluctuated excessively and often went out; until, after some year, the dim shimmer died out. It seemed that the great man died in Mozyr for a long time.”
Mozyr, Pokrovskaya street, Beginning of the XX century
Source: https://ridero.ru/books/mozyr_i_evrei/freeText/
Then, “local owner H. Libman rented, for one hundred and fifty rubles a year, an empty part of the city's long and narrow building, called by the famous name of Passage, which was empty in the city center, next to his house, and made this room under the foyer and hall; installed a new twelve-horsepower Avans (electric motor, ed), a Pathé projector No 2, and began to spin. And the audience, already missing the cinema, thanks to the long break, fell into this far from comfortable "electro-theater illusion", as the sign said."1
Pathe Projector No. 2 Advertisement
Source: Cine-Phono magazine, April 15 & May 1, 1915
Pathé projector No 2
Source: https://museudelcinema.girona.cat/eng/colleccio_objectes_fitxa.php?id=7880
The theater did so well that Libman turned it into a foyer and built a new building, and was doing very well, when….”suddenly... A new police officer was appointed, who decided to introduce generally accepted rules in a separate town and, to the confusion of the Mozyrians and the ruler himself, closed his Illusion.
For Mr. Libman, it was as if he were struck thunder from heaven. It turned out that one trifle was missing: the plan of the theater was submitted to the provincial construction department, the resolution was not received from there.
And the theater opened, as a booth with seltzer water usually opens. Mr. Libman rushed to the province. Then they explained to him what the matter was; And so, after three years of existence, he had to start from the beginning...
A long time passed: all the formalities were observed and the light lights of the "electro-theater of Illusion" were lit up again; This time according to all the rules.”2
Mozyr, Bazar square, Beginning of the XX century
Source: https://mozyrxxvek.blogspot.com/2015/01/blog-post_87.html
1 Cine-Phono, October 12, 1913, Issue 1, p. 39.
2 Ibid.