About Russian Archives Online
Russian Archives Online (RAO) is an online collection of Russian and Soviet-related archives and other sources of film footage, photographs, and fine art featuring support materials and robust archival search engine.
Our History
For decades after the Russian Revolution, authorities in the USSR carefully controlled and severely limited the film and photographic images of Soviet life that were released to the world.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Archive Media Project (AMP), a subsidiary of Abamedia Production Company, was formed in 1995 as a Russian-American partnership to open to the world the treasure trove of images housed in the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive in Krasnogorsk. This partnership soon evolved into an online gateway providing access to Russia's premier image collections, now known as the Russian Archives Online (RAO).
In addition, a network of international Russian history experts was established to provide ongoing guidance for the online and educational aspects of AMP. On March 6, 1998, Abamedia held a planning conference at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, to discuss aspects of Russian Archives Online services with academic advisors and potential funders.
The conference resulted in a shared recognition that AMP should continue to focus on improving access to the Krasnogorsk Archive and on outreach to other archives to further its mission. In 1998, AMP's Russian partners were awarded a grant from the Russian Digital Library Program to continue the development of a digital library and related cataloging software programs.
Russian Archives Online Today
With over thirty years of expertise, RAO is continuing its mission to unveil the hidden treasures of the Russian archives, providing services to the largest film and media companies as well as the research teams.
Our current and past clients include Netflix, Ciné TV, Discovery Channel, BBC, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG), 72 Films Production, and WGBH-TV Boston. RAO's parent company, Abamedia, can also be counted among RAO's clients, with Russian-focused projects such as the four-part PBS series "Red Files" and the documentary "Yanks for Stalin" for the History Channel.