Slavic

Laikykites Ten (Hold On There) is a Lithuanian comedic talk show that began in 2016. It’s also something of an experiment in Lithuanian television-making: it exists only on YouTube and is crowdfunded through Patreon, where it has more than 4,800 patrons. Despite its unorthodox production, it’s becoming quite popular. It airs on the YouTube channel […]

Alina Orlova (real name Alina Orlovskaja, Алина Орловская) is a Lithuanian singer-songwriter in the folk genre. Her unusual, ethereal voice and rich instrumentation backed up by piano have led to her well-deserved popularity in Lithuania. She sings in Lithuanian, Russian (her heritage is part Polish, part Russian), and English. She’s also sometimes considered a daina singer—daina is […]

I’m Ivan, You’re Abraham (Я — Іван, ты — Абрам) is a 1993 French–Belarusian film. It is in Belarusian, Polish, and Yiddish. The film was Belarus’s 1994 submission to the Academy Awards for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film (and one of only two films independent Belarus has ever submitted). The film takes place in […]

Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus is a 2014 documentary about the Belarusian Free Theatre, an underground theater and political opposition group in Belarus. It was produced by HBO but is partly in Belarusian. The theater has been operating since 2005. It uses art as a means of resistance, putting on plays that highlight the […]

Viva Belarus! (Жыве Беларусь! in Belarusian; Żywie Biełaruś! in Polish) is a 2012 Polish documentary about Belarus, based on true events. It was directed by the Polish director Krzysztof Łukaszewicz and produced in Poland, but its actors are all Belarusian and the main language of the film is Belarusian. The film tells the story of Miron Zakharko, who […]

Max Korzh (Макс Корж) is a contemporary Belarusian rap/hip-hop singer. While most of his music is in Russian, he does have the odd song or video clip that includes some Belarusian. Korzh attended musical school outside Brest, Belarus, and founded his first band, LunClan, with some friends when he was 16. The band, along with his next […]

Krambambula (Крамбамбуля) is a Belarusian rock group. The name is taken from a Belarusian folk drink made of honey, vodka, and spices. The group is on the Belarusian government’s extensive unofficial blacklist of artists and musicians. The group was formed by Lyavon Volski (Лявон Вольскі) in 2001. At the time, he was also a member […]

Irina Dorofeeva (Ірына Дарафеева in Belarusian, Ирина Дорофеева in Russian) is one of Belarus’s most well-known singers and, as of recently, a political figure Dorofeeva got her musical start at age 12, when she became the soloist of a youth vocal-instrumental ensemble, Rainbow (Радуга), in Mogilev, the Belarusian city where she grew up. Over her early teenage […]