A Golden Age of Belarusian Cinemas.
1911-1914
Pinsk • Nesvizh • Slutsk
Pinsk
As we stated earlier, a fire at the Bologoye cinema in Russia cost 64 lives at the beginning of 1911. Pinsk felt the repercussions. In the summer of 1911, the only theater in Pinsk, a wooden structure owned by a Mr. Teletnitsky, was closed because it was considered not sufficiently safe in a fire. A Mr. Boyarsky planned to build a new one, made of stone, near the center of the city.1 It was opened by January.2
Pinsk, Plewska Street, 1910-1914.
Source: https://picryl.com/media/pinsk-pleskaja-pinsk-pleskaya-1910-14-c5c691
The website Belarustourist had more details: Boyarsky was David Leibovich Boyarsky, the son of a merchant. He opened the new theater on the corner of Inzhenernaya (V. Khoruzhaya) and Prodolno-Shkolnaya (V. Korzha). Apparently, he had considered calling the theater Louvre, but for some reason changed his mind and dubbed it Casino. 3
Pinsk, Casino theatre, beginning of the XX century.
Source: Public Domain
The Casino cinema was very popular — getting to a show was not easy. There were so many people who wanted to see a movie that from time to time the administration arranged additional seats. The cinema worked seven days a week. Along with feature films, the Casino also showed scientific and historical films. The owners were progressive people, often traveling abroad, from where they tried to adopt the latest technologies — they installed modern equipment, showed the latest cinema releases.4
Nesvizh
Nesvizh, Town Hall, 1910.
Source: https://etoretro.ru/pic190310.htm
A Mr. Goldberg opened the Illusion in November 1911. “In the absence of other theaters, the Illusion is visited by the entire public of the city; It does not shine with luxury, but the small hall and foyer seem quite cozy.” 5
Slutsk
Slutsk, Sherokaya Street, beginning of the XX century.
Source: https://www.sb.by/articles/obrazovanie-po-slutski-reputatsiya-i-prestizh.html
We wrote earlier of the Lotus theater in Slutsk. One of the films shown there was Rogneda, a short made in 1911.6 Rogneda was directed by none other that Yakov Protazanov for the “Gloria".7 [A production company – Eds] The plot of the film has been lost to time, but it is not unfair to consider that it could be the story of Rogneda of Polotsk, the daughter of Rogovolod. The story goes that Vladimir killed her father and took her as one of his wives.
1 Cine-Phono, November 15, 1911, Issue 4, p. 22.
2 Cine-Phono, January 15, 1912, Issue 8, p. 19.
3 Cinema "Casino" / Pinsk Drama Theater (Brest oblast) https://belarustourist.by/turistam/sights/kinematograf-kazino-pinskiy-dramteatr-brestskaya-oblast/ Accessed March 10, 2025.
4 Ibid.
5 Kine-Zhurnal, December 23, 1912, Issue 24, p. 24.
6 “Let's Go to Eden, or How and Where Movies Were Watched in Polotsk at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century.” October 12, 2017. https://gorod214.by/new/354. Accessed March 8, 2025.
7 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8663576/ Accessed March 9, 2025.