Cinema, the miracle of the 20th century, came to Mongolia in 1910. The first movies were shown in the capital city, at the American Consulate and Russian Stock Exchange's hotel. In 1913 the Sain Noyon Khan Namnansuren (Prime Minister of Mongolia in 1911) is known to have brought some films from Russia to show at the residence of the Bogd Khaan. After the revolution of 1921, films and film equipment were purchased, and students trained in Russia, Mongolian people acquired access to the cinema, called then "Shadow show". It was free of charge until the first cinema theatre "Ard" was built in the 1930. In 1935, under the guidance of the Council of Ministers, a movie production company "Mongol kino" was set up with Soviet assistance.
The first production of the Mongol kino was a documentary film "The celebration of the 1st of May". In 1936, the first feature film "Son of Mongolia" was created with the technical assistance of Soviet's "Lenfilm" studio. Mongolia's first movie directors, cameramen, editors and other personnel were trained at the famous "All Unions' State Cinema Institute" in Moscow. In 1938 the Mongols independently made "Norjmaa's way" and "Herd of Wolves" in 1939. During World War II, Mongolian and Soviet cinematographers worked on a few joint productions with patriotic themes, particularly "His name is Sukhbaatar" (1942) and "Tsogt Taij" (Prince Tsogt) (1945). In this process Mongolian directors and cameramen M.Luvsanjamts, D.Jigjid, B.Demberel, artists Ts.Tsegmed, E.Gombosuren, B.Mijiddorj and Ch.Dolgorsuren and others were show cased.
Movies directed by the famous Mongolian first professional movie director R.Dorjpalam, such as "Golden ger" (a joint production with Germans), "Oh, those women" and "I wish I had a horse" have become classics of Mongolian cinema. The screen version of a novel by Ch.Lodoidamba "The Clear water of the Tamir" (1970-1973) brought Dorjpalam tremendous popularity. Film directors like H.Damdin, Ts.Navaan and B.Baljinnyam have made their own unique contribution to the development of the cinema. Documentaries about the beautiful nature and wildlife of the country by O.Urtnasan have provided a new element to Mongolian cinematography. There are 27 functioning cinema theatres with 300-1200 seats and many other video clubs in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, aimags and cities.
The children's cinema studio established in 1990 has become a theatre for Children and Youth and it includes a Cinema Institute. They have performed on stage and screen much of their creative work. It should be noted that the artists of the children's cinema studios have successfully presented their masterpieces at cinema festivals in Hawaii, Ireland, Fukuoko, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Moscow, Estonia, Berlin, Frankfurt, Brussels, Cairo and Rome. Before the 1990s, about 7-9 feature films were being produced a year. However, Mongolia's film industry has suffered from financial constraints, and competition from western products, which are shown on the numerous CaTV channels that have sprung up over recent years in Ulaanbaatar and other cities.
A few private film-makers have successfully adopted new techniques to attract younger audiences. Foreign cooperation with similar companies has expanded. Joint productions of both documentary and feature films with French, Japanese, Chinese and Mongolian producers have been successfully received at various international film festivals. Based on the government policy to develop documentary movies, every month 2 instalments of the documentary series entitled "Wheel of History" is produced and becomes an archive document.
