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1958

Armenia

17/4 -

Erazm Karamyan and Stepan Kevorkov’s Andzamb tchanachum em (Personally Known), the first film of the trilogy about the Armenian Bolshevik revolutionary Simon Ter-Petrosyan (AKA Kamo) is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Austria

– Austria boasts a total of 1,244 cinemas – one cinema for every 5,600 inhabitants.   Cinema admissions are around 122 million – approximately 17 visits per person per year.  [MORE] [ADD]

Azerbaijan

– The Filmmakers’ Union of Azerbaijan is established. [MORE] [ADD]

Bangladesh

– The Film Development Corporation (F.D.C.) is established by the legislation of East Bengal Provincial Assembly. [MORE] [ADD]

Belgium

12/10 -

At the Brussels World's Fair, the Belgian Cinémathèque organises a poll of the best films of all time:   The top 12 pictures are:

      1.      Bronenosets Potyomkin (The Battleship Potemkin) (100 votes)

2.      The Gold Rush (85)

3.      Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) (85)

4.      La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) (78)

5.      La Grand illusion (72)

6.      Greed (61)

7.      Intolerance (61)

8.      Mat (Mother) (54)

9.      Citizen Kane (50)

10.  Zemlya (Earth) (47)

11.  Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (45)

12.  Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (43)

 The selection is made by 117 film historians from 26 countries, including John Grierson, Iris Barry, André Bazin and Henri Langlois. [MORE] [ADD]

Czechoslovakia

– Alfred Radok’s Lanterna Magika concept, a combination of film, ballet, shadow play and pantomime, has its premiere at the World Expo Exhibition in Brussels.  [MORE] [ADD]

Denmark

10/10 -

Mania is the first Danish film to be broadcast on Danish TV. [MORE] [ADD]

Egypt

20/1 -

Youssef Chahine's Bab el Hadid (Cairo Station) is released.   Chahine also plays the lead role of a simpleton who turns to crime. [MORE] [ADD]

Holland

– The Nederlandse Film Academie (Dutch Film Academy) is founded. [MORE] [ADD]

India

– D. N. Sampath, founder of Kohinoor Talkies, dies.  [MORE] [ADD]

Iraq

– The film industry is nationalised following the military coup.  [MORE] [ADD]

Ireland

– The Ardmore Studios open at Bray, near Dublin.   [MORE] [ADD]

Italy

20/5 -

William Wyler begins filming a new version of Ben-Hur in Rome. [MORE] [ADD]

10/7 -

The eight-year marriage of Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman is annulled by the Vatican, leaving the way clear for Bergman to marry Swedish theatre producer Lars Schmidt. [MORE] [ADD]

1/9 -

The number of films in competition at the Venice Film Festival reaches a low with only 14 films competing – down from 31 in 1952. [MORE] [ADD]

2/9 -

The arrival of Brigitte Bardot at the Venice Film Festival creates a mini riot. [MORE] [ADD]

– Ente Cinema SpA is founded. [MORE] [ADD]

Macedonia

– Zivorad ‘Zika’ Mitrovic’s Mis Ston (Miss Stone), the country’s first colour film, is released.  [MORE] [ADD]

Mexico

– The Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences discontinues its Ariel Awards, which were founded in 1946, due to the poor state of the Mexican film industry. [MORE] [ADD]

Namibia

– US filmmaker John Marshall begins his series of documentaries about the country.  [MORE] [ADD]

Pakistan

17/7 -

The first annual Nigar Awards are launched by film journalist Ilyas Rasheedi. [MORE] [ADD]

Poland

3/10 -

Popiól i diament (Ashes and Diamonds), the third part of Andrzej Wajda's war trilogy is released.   Zbigniew Cybulski stars as a young member of a Nationalist underground movement in a provincial Polish town instructed to assassinate the new Communist district secretary. [MORE] [ADD]

Spain

Mar -

The Motion Picture Export Association of America (MPEA) stops its boycott of the Spanish market after agreeing to a quota system (known as the baremo) of one Spanish film for every four US imports. [MORE] [ADD]

15/11 -

Tyrone Power suffers a massive heart attack in Madrid while filming a swordfight scene with George Sanders for Solomon and Sheba.   He dies an hour later without regaining consciousness. [MORE] [ADD]

USSR

Mar -

A Russian Kinopanorama film is shown at the Mir Theatre in Moscow. [MORE] [ADD]

1/9 -

The second part of Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan Groznyy (Ivan the Terrible) is released.  [MORE] [ADD]