Ukraine has had an influence on the history of the cinema. Prominent Ukrainian directors include Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Serhiy Paradzhanov. Dovzhenko is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, as well as being a pioneer of Soviet montage theory and founding Dovzhenko Film Studios. Paradzhanov was an Armenian film director and artist who made significant contributions to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema; he invented his own cinematic style, Ukrainian poetic cinema, which was totally out of step with the guiding principles of socialist realism.