Slavic

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 […]

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 […]