Ida is one of the most widely hailed Polish films in recent memory. Released in 2013, Ida tells the story of a young woman, Anna, in Poland in 1962 who was brought up in a convent and is about to take her vows to become a nun. She goes on a trip to meet her […]
The Closed Circuit (Układ zamknięty) is a Polish crime drama from 2013. Inspired by true events that took place in 2003, it tells the story of several Gdańsk businessmen who are accused of corruption when district prosecutor Andrzej Kostrzewa, a former high-level Communist official, decides that he wants to take over their business. He enlists […]
Traffic Department (Drogówka) is a Polish crime drama from 2013. It tells the story of a group of seven friends who are police officers in the Warsaw traffic department. Each of them represents one of the seven deadly sins. When one of them ends up murdered, Sergeant Król—who represents the sin of pride—must fight to […]
Jack Strong is a Polish thriller released in 2014. It is based on the true story of Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, who begins working with the CIA in hopes of helping take down the Soviet Union. The film’s title refers to Kukliński’s CIA codename. David Forden, Kukliński’s real-life CIA handler, helped with preparations for the film. […]
Leski (the name means “widow” but is also a play on the lead singer’s name) is a Polish alternative rock band. Its lead singer is Paweł Leszoski, who takes Leski as his stage name and whose personal tag line, at least according to his somewhat defunct Twitter, is “Music is no more than a relatively […]
Artur Andrus is a prominent figure in the wide world of Polish culture. He is a cabaret artist, singer-songwriter, and radio host. He was born in Lesko, Poland, and studied journalism in Warsaw. He started his career in radio and was offered his own show on Polskie Radio after a surprising interview with Polish poet […]
Gradusy (Градусы; “degrees”) is a Russian pop band from Stavropol, founded in 2008. It consists of Dmitry Bakhtinov (Дмитрий Бахтинов, bass guitar), who organized the group, Roman Pashkov (Роман Пашков, vocals, guitar), Ruslan Tagiev (Руслан Тагиев, vocals, DJ), and Viktor Golovanov (Виктор Голованов, percussion). Their first hit was the 2009 single “Director” (“Режиссёр”), which was […]
Blestyashchie (Блестящие, “the bright ones”) is a Russian all-female pop group. It was formed in 1995 by the producers Andrey Grozniy (Андрей Грозный) and Andrey Shlykov (Андрей Шлыков), and their original lineup consisted of Olga Orlova (Ольга Орлова), Polina Iodis (Полина Иодис), and Varvara Koroleva (Варвара Королева). Its membership has changed often over the years—seventeen […]
Mitya (Dmitry) Fomin (Митя/Дмитрий Фомин) is a Russian singer, songwriter, and VJ on MUZ-TV from Novosibirsk. Mitya, the name he goes by professionally, is a common shortened version is full name, Dmitry. He knew from an early age that he would one day become a performer. He went to medical school in Novosibirsk first, though, […]
Office Romance: Our Time (Служебный роман. Наше время) is a 2011 Russian romantic comedy, a remake of the 1977 Office Romance, a highly beloved Soviet film directed by Eldar Ryazanov, one of the most popular and famous Soviet film directors. The film is about a financial firm led by Lyudmila Kalugina, a hard-nosed businesswoman whom […]
Pregnant (Беременный) is a 2011 Russian comedy directed by Sarik Andreasyan, who also directed Office Romance: Our Time (Служебный роман. Наше время). The film is about Sergey, a TV host on a music channel, who is skeptical of anything new or trendy. He and his wife, Diana—played by Anna Sedokova, a popular Russian singer and […]
A Kitchen in Paris (Кухня в Париже) is a 2014 Russian comedy. It is a sequel to the third season of the popular Russian television series Kitchen (Кухня), which played from 2012 to 2015 on STS. The TV series told the story of a French restaurant, the Claude Monet (and then known as Victor, starting […]
