The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (, meaning All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, Russia. History The institute was founded in 1919 by the film director Vladimir Gardin as the Moscow Film School and is the oldest film school in the world. From 1934 to 1991 the film school was known as the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (). Film directors who have taught at the institute include Lev Kuleshov, Marlen Khutsiev, Aleksey Batalov, Sergei Eisenstein, Mikhail Romm and Vsevolod Pudovkin. Alumni include Sergei Bondarchuk, Elem Klimov, Sergei Parajanov, Alexander Sokurov and Andrei Tarkovsky. Since 1986, the school has been named after the film director and actor Sergei Gerasimov. A full member of the international CILECT network of film schools, the Institute became a university in 2008. The founding of the institute was authorized by V. I. Lenin in 1919. Its work in the early years was hampered by the shortage of film stock. It has had an illustrious history as one of the oldest film schools in existence; many great film directors have taught at the institute. During the period of the Soviet Union it was a requirement of the state to attend VGIK in order to be allowed to direct a film. . More recently, its alumni were drawn both from the USSR (Soviet Union) and from other socialist and other countries, though it was a requirement for students to first learn Russian prior to attending. It is among the few film schools which offer scriptwriting courses. Notable alumni Notable alumni include: Tengiz Abuladze Sitora Alieva Dhimitër Anagnosti Natalya Andrejchenko Anders Banke Siddiq Barmak Aimée Beekman Vladimir Beekman Sergei Bondarchuk Lucian Bratu Valentin Chernykh Sofiko Chiaureli Revaz Chkheidze Grigory Chukhray Yuri Chulyukin Souleymane Cissé Frank Daniel Georgi Djulgerov Maciej Drygas Dimitri Devyatkin Nikolai Ekk Natalya Fateyeva Yan Frid Aleksandr Fyodorov Leonid Gaidai Aleksei Alekseivich German Marina Goldovskaya Anatoli Golovnya Stanislav Govorukhin Zheng Guo'en Lyudmila Gurchenko Iris Gusner Alexander Gutman Jerzy Hoffman Rustam Ibragimbekov Otar Iosseliani Roman Karmen Shapi Kaziev Edmond Keosayan Ilya Khrzhanovsky Marlen Khutsiev Naum Kleiman Elem Klimov Andrei Konchalovsky Alim Kouliev Larisa Kronberg Lev Kulidzhanov Eldar Kuliev Tamila Koulieva-Karantinaki Savva Kulish Leida Laius Anton Lapenko Pavel Lebeshev Jay Leyda Việt Linh Sergei Loznitsa Oleg Makara Mohammad Malas Vladimir Menshov Rachel Messerer Márta Mészáros Nikita Mikhalkov Aleksandr Misharin Alexander Mitta Kira Muratova Vladimir Nakhabtsev Rodion Nakhapetov