Secrets (Saladused) is an Estonian TV drama. It began airing in 2008. The show tells the stories of ordinary Estonian people, mainly focusing on their relationship dramas as well as other adventures. All the stories featured are true, though with actors playing the roles. The show seeks out the most interesting and often scandalous (or […]
TMTV, or Tatar Music Television Channel (Татарский Музыкальный Телеканал in Russian, Татар музыкаль телеканалы in Tatar), is the number-one music TV channel in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. It launched in 2012 and is based in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. The channel features contemporary Tatar music and has a variety of music-related and […]
Zarina Vildanova (Зарина Вильданова) is an up-and-coming contemporary Tatar singer. She is from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Russia. She sings in a range of styles—jazz, folk, and pop—and languages, but much of her music has a focus on Tatar sounds and culture. Vildanova has an extensive musical education. After getting a degree at Kazan State […]
Alqanat is a Tatar rock and metal band from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Russia. Their albums and website boast that they play “authentic Tatar rock music” (Tатарча рок); their uniqueness stems from their combining of their Tatar identity with very un-traditional music. While their music does have some folk elements, and they sing only […]
Defenders of Riga (Rigas sargi) is a 2007 Latvian drama film. Latvia submitted it to the 2007 Academy Awards for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated. The film is based on the book Clock in Reverse (Pulkstenis ar atpakaļgaitu) by Andris Kolbergs, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film […]
Doctor Aybolit (Доктор Айболит) is a series of short animated films that aired in the 1980s in the Soviet Union. The central character was created by popular Soviet poet, translator, literary critic and, above all, children’s writer Korney Chukovskiy (Корней Чуковский), and the character has appeared not only in this series but in a number of […]
The Summer of Saingalė (Sangailės vasara) is a Lithuanian drama film from 2016. Lithuania selected it as its entry to the 2016 Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. It did, however, receive many other international awards. The film tells the story of two young women, Saingalė and Austė. They meet at an air show: Saingalė wants […]
Aminata Savadogo (she often goes by just Aminata) is a Latvian contemporary singer. Her music is influenced by her multiethnic roots—Russia, Latvia, and Burkina Faso—and displays a sound refreshing and unusual in today’s Latvia. She sings mostly in English, sometimes in Russian, and rarely in Latvian. According to her official biography, “her strong and unique […]
The Mitten (Рукавичка) is a 1996 short animated film. It was produced in Ukraine but is almost wordless—though there is nice music!. It’s about eight minutes long. (It should not be confused with the 1967 Soviet puppet film Варежка, which also has the English title The Mitten. That one is about a girl who wants a puppy so […]
Golden Parazyth is a Lithuanian band that first appeared in 2005. Their genre is pretty broad, encompassing electronica, pop, classic rock, and alternative rock. Its current members are Giedrius Širka (GP; producer, lead vocals, electronic instruments, guitar) and Aurimas Vilkišius (Keta or K@; producer, backing vocals, electronic instruments, keyboards). They sing in Lithuanian and English. GP […]
Treasure Island (Остров сокровищ in Russian; Острів скарбів in Ukrainian) is, among many other things, a 1988 Russian/Ukrainian/Soviet animated full-length film. Though it was produced by the Ukrainian animated film studio Kyivnaukfilm (Київнаукфільм), it’s entirely in Russian, as was common for the Soviet Union. It actually consists of two parts, “Captain Flint’s Map (“Карта капитана […]
Language Anew (Мова Нанова) is a Belarusian TV show, one of the very, very few that are actually in Belarusian. Because of Belarus’s history of very close ties with Russia, Belarusian is very rarely spoken in most areas of Belarus (somewhat similar to in Ukraine, but more pronounced), and most Belarusian media is in Russian. The […]
