Prostokvashino (Простоквашино) is a series of three animated children’s cartoons from the Soviet Union. The episodes are “Three from Prostokvashino” (“Трое из Простоквашино,” 1978), “Vacations in Prostokvashino” (“Каникулы в Простоквашино,” 1980), and “Winter in Prostokvashino” (“Зима в Простоквашино,” 1984). Each is a little less than 20 minutes. They are based on the story “Uncle Fyodor, Dog, […]
The Groom (Жених) is a 2016 Russian comedy and the directorial debut of Aleksandr Nezlobin (Александр Незлобин). Released in September 2016, the film stars Sergey Svetlakov (Сергей Светлаков), Olga Kartunkova (Ольга Картункова), Sergey Burunov (Сергей Бурунов), Georgiy Dronov (Георгий Дронов), and Aleksandr Demidov (Александр Демидов). The film is the story of Helmut, a German man who […]
Twists and Turns (Выкрутасы; also called Lucky Trouble in English) is a 2010 Russian romantic comedy. It stars Milla Jovovich (Милла Йовович), the Ukrainian-American actress who also speaks Russian, and it was directed by Levan Gabriadze (Леван Габриадзе), who directed two of the Christmas Trees (Ёлки) movies. Russian actress Galina Loginova (Галина Логинова), Jovovich’s real-life […]
Love Is a Carrot 3 (Любовь-морковь 3) is the third in the Love Is a Carrot trilogy, Russia’s own version of Freaky Friday. (“Love is a carrot” is a Russian phrase that, drawing on the silly-sounding rhyme between the words любовь, love, and морковь, carrot, dismisses love as something silly or cutesy. It’s often used […]
Hipsters (Стиляги) is a 2008 musical comedy-drama directed by Valeriy Todorovskiy (Валерий Тодоровский) and starring Anton Shagin (Антон Шагин) and Oksana Akinshina (Оксана Акиншина). Hipsters was featured at the Toronto and Cleveland International Film Festivals, among others, and won Best Film at both the Golden Eagle Awards and the Nika Awards in 2009. In Russia […]
Bishkek, I Love You (Бишкек, я люблю тебя) is a 2011 Kyrgyz comedy/drama film. The film’s tagline was “The first film about your favorite city” (“Первый фильм про твой любимый город”), highlighting how its goal was not only to tell a good story but specifically to give Bishkek the film treatment it deserves. Ruslan Akun […]
Salaam, New York (Салам, Нью-Йорк) is a 2013 Kyrgyz film by director Ruslan Akun (Руслан Акун), who also directed and wrote 2011’s Bishkek, I Love You (Бишкек, я люблю тебя). Akun also wrote the film, along with Gulzhan Toktogulova (Гульжан Токтогулова). It was based on true events—Akun’s time studying at a visual arts school in […]
The Three Bogatyrs: The Princess of Shamakhi (Три богатыря и Шамаханская царица; also known as How Not to Rescue a Princess in English) is a Russian animated film from 2010, the fourth in the Bogatyr series from Melnitsa Studios. The film starts out with the princess of Shamakhi (a city in present-day Azerbaijan) trying to […]
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, […]
