Slavic

1612 (also known as 1612: Chronicle of the Time of Troubles, 1612: Хроники смутного времени) is a 2007 Russian epic drama. It is based on true events of that year. The film takes place during the Time of Troubles (Смутное время), the period from 1598 to 1612, after the Rurik dynasty was deposed but before […]

Mongol (Монгол; known as Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan in its English release) is a 2007 film about Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior who conquered Russia (among many other places) in the thirteenth century. The stars are well-known actors from Japan, China, and Mongolia. Tadanobu Asano, who plays Khan, is well-known in his native […]

Nursultan Azykbaev (Нурсултан Азыкбаев) is a Kyrgyz pop singer who has extremely recently come to the forefront of the Kyrgyz pop scene. He sings in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English. Azykbaev, only 21 years old, is currently studying flute performance at the Kyrgyz State Music Academy—he is in his third year. Azykbaev made waves recently when […]

LA Medin is a Kyrgyz hip-hop/reggae/rap band. They sing mostly in Russian. Their current members are Batka (real name Batyr; Батька/Батыр) and Slim JOY (or Kyba; Куба). The band’s name refers to the cities Los Angeles and Almedina. Batka, the only member who has been with the group since the start, has said that he got interested […]

A’Studio (А’Студио) is a Kazakh-Russian pop group who has also gained popularity in Europe and the United States. Founded in 1987 by Kazakh musician Baigali Serkebaev (Байгали Серкебаев), A’Studio today is an ensemble of three musicians—Serkebaev, Vladimir Mikloshich (Владимир Миклошич), and Katie Topuria (Кети Топурия)—with the participation of drummer Yevgeniy Dalskiy (Евгений Дальский). In 1989, A’Studio’s […]

Orgia Pravednikov (Оргия Праведников, Eng.: Orgy of the Righteous) is a Russian alternative rock band. They formed in Moscow in 1999 when guitarist Sergei Kalugin (Сергей Калугин) joined forces with the art-rock group ARTel (ARТель), and since then Orgia Pravednikov has continually honed its unique sound, which combines elements of acoustic and electronic music. Orgia […]

Mikhail Boyarskiy (Михаил Сергеевич Боярский) is a Soviet and Russian actor and singer. Best known for his work on historical action-adventure films, Boyarsky rose to nationwide fame for his role of d’Artagnan in the 1978 Soviet adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers. He is also well known as a singer and became an Honored Artist […]

Larisa Dolina (Лариса Александровна Долина) is a celebrated Russian jazz singer, pop singer, and actress. In 1998 she was named a Folk Artist of Russia, and she is also a three-time recipient of the Russian National Ovation (Овация) prize. Dolina was born in 1955 in Baku, Azerbaijan, into a European family. By age three she […]