Abstract: This article is dedicated to examination of works of the film directors of the Leningrad popular science film studio “Lennauchfilm” in the 1970s – 1980s. Based on the archival documents presented in the Central Archive of Literature and Art of Saint Petersburg, the author analyzes the work of the film studio: carries out classification of filmography by formal-semantic criterion, as well as determines the key processes typical to this time period. The following main trends are highlighted: natural science, technical-propagandistic, historical-revolutionary, military-patriotic, social life, history of art and culture. Special attention is given to the films that cover the topics, which have not previously been included in the field of popular science cinematography. The novelty of this research lies in classification of the thematic trends of the Leningrad film studio as an integral artistic system, as well as in comparison of the plots of popular science film texts by each direction over the two decades. As a result, the author identified the main trends, which broadened the thematic field in the work of the studio, as well as fundamentally changed the representations on the goals and tasks of popular science cinematography. The key object of popular science cinematography is being shifted during the Perestroika period. Emphasis is place not on science and technological achievements, but human and society. Film directors through their works conveyed the attitude of society towards science, raising the questions of transformation of ethics and morality in the context of scientific and technological revolution. The idea of the harm of scientific achievements and responsibility of the scholars before society is being advanced. Without any doubt, the works of the Leningrad film directors broadened the ideological-artistic range by offering the own vision of specificity of the Soviet popular science cinematography.