Which 2002 film was entirely filmed in a single continuous shot?

The 2002 film filmed in a single continuous shot was Russian Ark. Directed by Alexander Sokurov, the experimental historical drama unfolds as an uninterrupted journey through Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace, home of the State Hermitage Museum.

The film was shot on December 23, 2001, using a Steadicam and a single take lasting about 87 minutes. Its narrator moves through rooms and galleries populated by figures from different periods of Russian history, while a mysterious European companion—associated with the 19th-century traveler Marquis de Custine—guides the encounters.

Russian Ark’s production was an extraordinary technical challenge. The cast, extras, camera operator, lighting crew, and museum staff had to coordinate complex movements across the building without a conventional edit. Several attempts failed, and the successful take came near the end of the available daylight and camera-battery capacity. The finished film premiered at Cannes in 2002 and is often contrasted with films such as 1917, which uses hidden cuts to create the illusion of one continuous shot.