Slavic

In the World of Animals (В мире животных) is a Soviet and now Russian nature show. It has aired nonstop since 1968, and is now in its 48th season, with more than 1,300 episodes. Nikolay Drozdov (Николай Дроздов) has been hosting the show since 1977, and single-handedly since 1990. According to the show’s website on TV […]

Let’s Eat at Home! (Едим дома!) is a Russian culinary TV show. Led by Yulia Vysotskaya (Юлия Высоцкая), it is “a culinary documentary show from the life of a young woman”: Vysotskaya finds herself in various situations in which food is required (e.g. her child invites a bunch of guests over; a friend stops by […]

Star Factory (Фабрика Звёзд) is a Russian music-competition TV show in which teams compete to become the new hit act in Russian pop music. The show has created such stars as Fabrika, Korni, and Polina Gagarina. It aired from 2002 to 2007 in Russia, with a triumphant return for one season in 2011. There are also […]

Zlydni (Злидні) is a Ukrainian short animated film from 2005. The title translates to “poverty,” though actually it refers to a mythological Slavic creature that is thought to bring misery and poverty into the home where it settles. In Ukrainian and Belorusian mythology, zlydni are demonic creatures who settle in homes—they usually live behind the stove—or sit […]

The #9 Tram Went By (Йшов трамвай дев’ятий номер) is a Ukrainian short animated film. It is notable for the fact that its voiceover is in neither Ukrainian nor Russian but in Surzhuk, a dialect somewhere in the middle of the two languages commonly spoken in various regions of Ukraine. The film, about 10 minutes long, […]

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 […]