Leonid Belokurov

Leonid Anatolievich Belokurov (real surname Barn) (January 20, 1922, Moscow - December 12, 2003, ibid.) - Soviet screenwriter, creator of feature films, documentaries and popular science films. Also worked in animation. Born in Moscow. He studied at VGIK. During the Great Patriotic War, along with the entire course joined the ranks of the national militia. In 1943 he graduated from the screenwriting department. He worked as an editor of the script studio and the head of the production of feature films. For over 50 years as an editor and screenwriter, he collaborated with the Studio of popular science films (Mosnauchfilm, then Tsentrnauchfilm). He specialized in geographical and natural history films, as well as biographical tapes about the lives of prominent artists. C 1945, trying himself in fiction film. He participated in the creation of scenarios for the films “The Unconquered” by Mark Donskoy (not indicated in the credits) and “The Last Inch” according to the story of the same name by James Aldridge. Together with Agasi Babayan he created a trilogy about the adventures of a lynx based on the works of Vitaly Bianchi. Since 1959, he has also written scripts for animated films. Fruitfully collaborated with director Roman Davyd. Their most famous collaboration was the series "Mowgli" based on the "Book of the Jungle" by the writer Rudyard Kipling, which was released from 1967 to 1971. In 1973, the series were edited in a full-length film. In addition, as a film expert, he authored articles in thematic collections (“Yearbook of Cinema. 1956”; “The Popular Science Film”) and periodicals. In recent years, Leonid Anatolyevich sued the leadership of the Soyuzmultfilm studio (at that time FSUE Soyuzmultfilm Studios), accusing him of copyright infringement and non-payment of deductions. Although the court obliged the studio to pay remuneration for the cartoon forcibly, its management refused to do so, citing the fact that the law “On Copyright and Related Rights” was adopted only in 1993. After Belokurov’s death, his widow, Gayane Avetovna Engeeva, sent a new lawsuit, demanding to recognize her exclusive copyright on the use of the Mowgli cartoon and to recover 1.5 million rubles from the defendant. According to the lawyer, the defendant was not the heir of the Soviet film studio and had no right to dispose of the cartoon. Leonid Belokurov died on December 12, 2003, was buried at the Golovinsky cemetery.