BELARUS’ HERITAGE: Viktor Turov

Viktor Turov, Belarus’ legendary director, screenwriter, professor and academician born in Mogilev, left his mark on the international cinematography thanks to his unique vision and astonishing works about the fate of the Belarusian nation during the Great Patriotic War. “I Come from My Childhood” (1966), “The War Under The Roofs” (1967), “Sons Go into Battle” (1969) have by right become the classics of the national cinema…

Viktor Turov knew a lot about the war… In 1941 his father, Timofey Turov, joined a partisan squad, and in the winter 1942, when trying to meet with his family, he was captured and executed by the Nazis. Soon afterwards his mother was also arrested. Viktor and his sister were sent to the concentration camp at Aachen, where they were simply trying to survive. Years later, those dreadful and bitter memories became the source of Viktor Turov’s art which has won over the hearts of millions of people throughout the world.

A graduate of the directing faculty of the famous VGIK (The All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography), a student of outstanding directors Alexander Dovzhenko and Mikhail Chiaureli, Viktor Turov started his career in 1959 at the National Film Studio Belarusfilm. He released his debut documentary “Our Soligorsk”, and short film “Star on a Buckle” based on Yanka Bryl’s novel in 1962.

The young director got the worldwide recognition after he released his first feature film “Through the Graveyard” (1965) based on the novel of Pavel Nilin. It became a phenomenon in the cinema of that time: for the first time a movie focused not on the heroic deeds of the partisans but on the life of people in the occupied territory. Through the Graveyard was recognized by UNESCO in 1994 among the best 100 movies in history. 

Over 37 years of creative work, Viktor Turov shot 26 films about the tragedy of war and pressing problems of everyday peaceful life. The director also made screen versions of Belarusian and Russian literature classics. Among these are “Starting Point” (1979), “Sunday Night” (1976), “People of the Marsh” (1982), “High Blood” (1989), “Black Stork” (1993), and “I Come from My Childhood” (1966) recognized by critics as the best movie in the history of the Belarusian cinematography.

The 80th anniversary of Viktor Turov was celebrated in October 2016. It was a major event of the Year of Culture calendar. In honor of the talented master, his friends, colleagues and his spectators organized a creative marathon throughout the country. Evenings and retrospectives were organized in different cities. Mogilev hosted the annual festival Turov Autumn. As for Minsk, after the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, hundreds of guests gathered in Tsentralny Cinema House to honor his memory.

Belarusfilm Studio. The People’s Artist of the BSSR director Viktor Turov (left) during the shooting of the film of Polesye Chronicles based on the books by Ivan Melezh, 1984