Corporate Party (Корпоратив) is a 2014 Russian comedy by Oleg Asadulin, who also directed Dark World: Equilibrium (Тёмный мир: равновесие). The film was produced by the company Enjoy Movies, which seeks to specifically make domestic hits about Russian everyday life so that audiences have viewing options apart from Western imports. In the filme, Igor, the […]
Loves Me, Loves Me Not (Любит не любит) is a 2014 Russian romantic comedy. In the film, Lyosha, a successful businessman, has just gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Alyona, his boss’s daughter, when he meets well-known journalist Irina. She introduces him to a new, exciting, chaotic life, and suddenly he can’t choose between Irina, who […]
Eight New Dates (8 новых свиданий) is a 2015 Russian comedy, the sequel to the 2012 Eight First Dates (8 первых свиданий). The film’s director, Marius Weisberg, was also responsible for the romantic comedy trilogy Love in the Big City (Любовь в большом городе). In the film, Vera, a popular TV host, and Nikita, a […]
Polina Gagarina (Полина Гагарина) is a Russian singer and Russia’s entry into the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, where she placed second in a difficult, politically charged atmosphere. Gagarina was interested in music from her childhood, often giving loud, heartfelt performances to her parents. The turning point for her was hearing Whitney Houston perform on TV; […]
Ivanushki International (Иванушки International) is a Russian band founded in 1994 by producer Igor Matvienko. The original members were Andrey Grigoryev-Apollonov, Kirill Andreev, and Igor Sorin. The name of the group came about when, after they had performed under several different names, someone in the studio where they were recording a song said, “What kind […]
Stanisława Celińska is a Polish theater and film actress born in 1947. She graduated from the State Higher School of Theater in Warsaw in 1969 and began acting professionally even before her graduation, debuting in Aleksander Fredro’s A Great Man for Small Matters (Wielki człowiek do małych interesow). Her first film was 1970’s Landscape after […]
Myslovitz is a Polish rock band that started in 1992 by Artur Rojek (vocals, guitar) and Wojkta Powaga (guitar) while they were students in Mysłowice. The name of the band is based on a Latin transcription of the name of their hometown. They were soon joined by brothers Jacek (bass guitar) and Wojtek Kuderski (drums), […]
Burned by the Sun 2 (Утомлённые сольнцем 2) is the sequel to the 1994 critically acclaimed Burned by the Sun. It consists of two parts, Exodus (2010; Предстояние) and Citadel (2011; Цитадель). The film takes place almost a decade after its prequel, during World War Two. In Exodus, Kotov (played by Nikita Mikhalkov, who also […]
Burned by the Sun (Утомлённые сольнцем) is a joint Russian and French Russian-language film released in 1994. The title of the film refers to a 1937 song, “The Burned Sun” (“Утомлённое сольнце”), which is featured several times in the film. The film was influenced by the real-life Nikolai Skoblin, a White Army officer who later […]
Dark World (Тёмный мир) is a Russian fantasy thriller released in 2010. It was inspired in part by several Russian fairy tales, including Baba Yaga and Kashchey the Immortal. It was directed by Anton Megerdichev, who is primarily known for the 2013 drama Metro (Метро). Dark World starred Svetlana Ivanova, known for her starring roles […]
Diskoteka Avariya (Дискотека Авария; “Disco Accident” or “‘Disco Crash’”) is a Russian rock group formed in 1988 in Ivanovo, an economically depressed city near Moscow. The original members of Diskoteka Avariya were Aleksey Ryzhov and Nikolai Timofeev, who met while studying at a local engineering university. They were joined several years later by Oleg Zhukov. […]
Dan Balan is a Moldovan singer who records music in Romanian, Russian, and English. Balan was born in Chișinău, Moldova’s capital. His father, Mihai Balan, was a Moldovan diplomat and is now the head of Moldova’s security service. Balan’s interest in music arose when he was a child. He received his first accordion when he […]