Poland’s kabarety, not to be confused with cabaret, are a unique cultural phenomenon used to criticise the country’s government even during its most repressive period. Are they once again under threat? Kabarety, or kabaret, are a popular...
Tag - Culture
Streaming service Netflix has added Servant of the People, the 2015 TV series in which Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – then a comedian and actor – stars as a...
This year’s Vilnius International Film Festival is making Ukraine, and Ukrainian films, a key part of its programme. Lithuania has been one of the most resilient...
The Febiofest Bratislava International Film Festival returns after two years, its programme full of ambitious, experimental work. Conceived as a platform for promoting...
An insightful Netflix documentary provides much needed background to current events in Ukraine, and clues as to why a once divided country has united to fight the...
To understand modern Ukraine it’s worth learning about its past. Red Famine, Anne Applebaum’s magnificent book about the Holodomor, is as good a place as any...
The films of the Yugoslav Black Wave transcend borders and time. Restrained by the cliched post-communist lens, the Yugoslav Black Wave is a film movement often cast...
The 2020 sequel to Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 mockumentary about American culture through the eyes of a fictional Kazakh journalist was just as controversial as the first...
No visit to Romania is complete without seeing the magnificent painted monasteries of Bucovina. Amidst often fierce debate regarding the amount of public money being...
Imprisoned twice on spurious charges by the Soviet authorities, Sergey Parajanov – claimed by both Armenia and Georgia – nevertheless managed to create one...
Bulgaria in 1989 was far more open than Albania, Romania or East Germany, but still posed challenges for visitors. Procuring soft drinks was one of them. Tourists from...
On the Estonian island of Saaremaa, Christmas trees are being recycled in the most delicious way: a craft gin distillery is using them to make a unique tonic water. When...
