Author: Chris Wehberg

Auktyon / АукцЫон

Auktyon (stylized as АукцЫон) is a long-lived Russian alternative rock band formed in 1978. There are nine current members in the band, including Lenya Fedorov (vocals, guitar), Viktor Bondarik (bass), Kolya Rubanov (saxophone), Misha Kolovsky (tuba), Dima Ozersky (keyboards), Vladimir Volkov (double bass), Yuri Parfenov (trumpet), Boris Shaveynikov (drums), and Oleg Garkusha (everything else). All […]

Doctor Lisa: Learning Russian Through Film

Doctor Lisa (known as Доктор Лиза in Russian) is a 2020 biographical drama based on the life of Elizaveta Petrovna Glinka (Елизавета Петровна Глинка in Russian). The film follows Doctor Lisa, a beloved humanitarian and charity worker, through one day of her busy life. The movie was directed by Oksana Karas and produced by KIT […]

Ivan’s Childhood: Learning Russian Through Film

Ivan’s Childhood (known as Иваново детство in Russian) is a 1962 Soviet war film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and produced by Mosfilm. Selling over 16.7 million tickets in the Soviet Union alone, Ivan’s Childhood was Tarkovsky’s first feature film and one of his most successful projects. The film tells the story of a young boy who […]

Country of the Deaf: Learning Russian Through Film

Country of the Deaf (known as Страна глухих in Russian) is a 1998 crime film based on Renata Litvinova’s novel To Own and Belong (Обладать и принадлежать in Russian). The film sits in the top 20 Russian films of the 90s according to KinoPoisk and depicts an alternate Moscow set in the early 1990s that […]