Pyotr Nalich (Пётр Андреевич Налич) is a Russian singer-songwriter who sings in Russian, English, Italian, French and Babury (Бабури), an invented language. Nalich’s songs are often funny, at times comparable to children’s songs. All of Nalitch’s songs are available for free or “pay what you want” download on his website and, as he declared in an […]
Pelageya (the stage name of Pelageya Khanova, Пелагея Сергеевна Ханова) is a Russian singer known for her versions of folk songs of various nations, romances, and other compositions performed in rock arrangement. Pelageya was born into a musical family and showed herself as a talented singer from a very young age. Her mother, Svetlana Khanova […]
The Master and Margarita (Мастер и Маргарита) is a 2005 TV miniseries based on the fantastical, bizarre, venerable book by Mikhail Bulgakov (Михаил Булгаков). Bulgakov, a Russian/Ukrainian/Soviet writer born in Kyiv, was one of the most esteemed writers of the Soviet period, though his works, of which The Master and Margarita is the most famous, […]
The Island (Остров) is a 2006 Russian drama directed by Pavel Lungin (Павел Лунгин). Lungin is one of Russia’s most well-established and well-respected contemporary filmmakers, and The Island is a valuable part of his directorial portfolio. The film takes place in a secluded monastery on the White Sea. Anatoly is a monk who lives in […]
Paperny T.A..M… (Паперный Т.А..М…) is a Russian music group that was founded in Moscow shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its leader is Aleksey Mikhailovich Paperniy (Алексей Михайлович Паперный; the T.A..M… stands for “fellowship of actors and musicians” (товарищество актёров и музыкантов), though information about the strange system of periods/ellipses is not forthcoming. […]
Vysotsky, Thank You for Being Alive (Высоцкий. Спасибо, что живой!) is a 2011 biopic about legendary Russian bard and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky (Владимир Высоцкий). Vysotsky, who died in 1980, is one of the best-loved cultural figures in Russian and Soviet history. There have been numerous books and movies made about him, in addition to his […]
The Mighty Angel (Pod mocnym aniołem; literally “under a strong angel”) is a 2014 Polish romance/drama film. It is a film version of the novel of the same name by Jerzy Pilch, which won the Nike, the preeminent Polish literary award, in 2001. An English-language translation was released in 2009. The film version was directed […]
Stones for the Rampart (Kamienie na szaniec) is a Polish film from 2014 loosely based on the 1943 historical novel of the same name by Aleksandr Kamiński. The book was extremely popular even when it was released, though it was only circulated by an underground press, and it is still widely read in Poland. An […]
Warsaw ’44 (Miasto 44; literally “city 44”) is a Polish drama from 2014 about the Warsaw Uprising during World War II. The Warsaw Uprising was an effort by the Polish resistance to take back the city from the Nazis. The leaders had hoped that the Soviets would arrive in the city during the uprising, but […]
In Darkness (W ciemności) is a 2011 Polish drama. It is based on the 1990 book In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall, which tells the story of a group of Jews who hid in the sewers of Lvov for more than two years while the Nazis occupied Poland during World War Two. The film […]
Nervy (Нервы; “nerves”) is a Ukrainian alternative-rock band led by singer and pianist Zhenya Milkovskiy (Женя Мильковский). He formed the band in 2010 after his solo career, which he had begun several years earlier, didn’t yield the results he wanted. The original members of the band were Milkovskiy (vocals, guitar), Dmitry Dudka (Дмитрий Дудка; bass guitar), […]
Bad Dogs (Złe Psy) is a Polish rock band that’s been around since 1999. The name apparently refers to American pit bulls, for which Andrzej Nowak, its founder, has a certain fondness. Nowak also sings vocals and plays guitar in the band TSA. TSA, Nowak’s first major project, is a hard rock/heavy metal band that […]
