In 1906 Khanzhonkov founded Russia's first cinema factory, A. Khanzhonkov and Co., whose main financial backer was
Ivan Ozerov, an influential banker and member of the
Russian State Council. Initial productions were shot on stage in the vein of
Méliès and were overshadowed by the work of
Alexander Drankov. Known for his unabashed commercialism, Drankov would remain a competitor up to the revolution of 1917. It wasn't until 1911 that Khanzhonkov's factory would receive widespread acclaim with the release of
Defence of Sevastopol. One of the earliest full length Russian feature films, it was equally notable for its technical aspects. By the end of 1912, Khanzhonkov had established a permanent studio in Moscow and went on to produce over a hundred films over the course of the next several years. Much of Khanzhonkov's work during this time period went "virtually unseen by the Russian masses" and often took aim at aristocratic sensibilities or adapted great Russian novels of the 19th century. Nonetheless, Khanzhonov helped create many standards in Russian cinema production; the first confirmed use of artificial light in the Russian film industry takes place in a Khanzhonkov documentary piece. During the
Russian Revolution, Khanzhonkov fled Russia to
Constantinople and
Vienna, and, despite previous affiliation with the royal family, returned upon invitation to the
USSR in 1923 and was appointed director of the new Soviet studio
Proletkino and later as a production consultant for
Goskino. His career in the
Soviet Union ended in 1926: he was forced to abdicate after a corruption scandal struck Proletkino, and never worked in cinema again. Khanzhonkov spent the rest of his life in
Yalta, living on a personal pension from the state. There he survived the
Nazi occupation of Crimea in 1941–1944, and died in Yalta after many years of declining health on September 26, 1945. == Legacy ==