POST-SOVIET TERRITORIES

An Ethnographic Documentary on the Harsh But Satisfying Realities of Living in Siberia That Beguiled Werner Herzog—’Happy People: A Year in Taiga’, dir. Dmitry Vasyukov, 2007

September 4th, 2020|Country: Ket People, Russia|

Come for Werner Herzog, Tarkovsky’s nephew, and charismatic dogs, stay because it’s an incomparable opportunity to hang out in Taiga for a whole year

The Pragmatic, Wholesome Hip-Hop of Russia’s Musical Prodigy—Antoha MC, “Pro Menya”, 2019

July 16th, 2020|Country: Russia|

Antona MC dances like no one is watching, raps about healthy habits and routines, and his music is crystal-clear nostalgic futurism: see why there is no one else like him in the industry

The Breakaway State on the Cusp of Adulthood—‘Transnistra’, dir. Anna Eborn, 2019

June 8th, 2020|Country: Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Transnistria|

An intimate and haunting portrait of six teenagers in rural Transnistria shows the splintered prospects and the many limitations of growing up in a melancholy landscape

Money, Madness, and Mysteries of Outlaw Capitalism—‘My Father the Banker’, dir. Ieva Ozoliņa, 2015

April 30th, 2020|Country: Latvia, Malaysia|

A daughter’s search for her father who disappeared without a trace after enjoying a high roller life in the 90s becomes a window into the bizarre landscape of post-Soviet Latvia

The Magnificent Pencil Pushers: The Planet’s Leading Miniature Carvers Working on the Sharp End, Part 2

March 30th, 2020|Country: Bashkortostan, India, Russia, Taiwan, Tamil Nadu, USA, Vietnam|

There is no topic that those micro sculptors with mad skills can't pencil in: from Baby Yoda to endangered species, from complex engineering to the taboo of menstruation.

Fuzzy Fur and Fuzzier Ethics of Taxidermy: ‘Animus Animalis’, dir. Aistė Žegulytė, 2018 & ‘Stuffed,’ dir. Erin Derham, 2019

March 19th, 2020|Country: Canada, Lithuania, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, USA, Zimbabwe|

Two woman-made documentaries about people’s relationships with dead animals offer looks on the matter from various parts of the world and across the moral spectrum

The Dark, Brainy and Radiant Rap of an Ex-Offender From Belarus—Sirop, ‘Strashila,’ 2020

March 11th, 2020|Country: Belarus|

Once an aspiring musician, Sirop (Сiроп) became addicted to heroin and spent two decades in and out of detention. Now in his late forties, he is the rising star of Belarusian hip-hop.

The Many Facets of Kyrgyz Womanhood—‘Jamilia’, dir. Aminatou Echard, 2018

February 26th, 2020|Country: France, Kyrgyzstan|

Ethnography meets experimental film in a stunning, sprawling study of Kyrgyz femininity and its relationship to the culture's defining novella about a rebellious woman

Water Tells Its Own Story–‘Aquarela,’ dir. Victor Kossakovsky, 2019

February 10th, 2020|Country: Denmark, Germany, Greenland, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela, Water|

An elegiac documentary with an urgent message about climate change centers the narrative around aquatic bodies and lets the environment speak for itself

Woman, Winter, Work Camp—Guzel Yakhina, ‘Zuleikha,’ trans. Lisa C. Hayden

January 26th, 2020|Country: Russia, Tatarstan|

A forceful, award-winning and debate-sparking debut novel about life in Gulag through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters, with fierce but timid Tatar woman at the forefront

Family Values, Fraud, Post-Colonialism, and Scary Healing Rituals in ‘Suleiman Mountain’, dir. Elizaveta Stishova, 2017

January 6th, 2020|Country: Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia|

A husband, his two wives, and estranged young son grapple with opportunities and morals in rural Kyrgyzstan—a powerful road-movie from a young Russian director

From Beslan hostage to hip-hop artist—Indi, ‘Perviy’, 2019

December 5th, 2019|Country: North Ossetia, Russia|

A survivor of the Beslan school siege and chronic illness creates soulful hip-hop about love, faith, and perseverance, blending Moscow moodiness with Caucasus mountains flair

Daughters of Mujahideen in ‘Before Father Gets Back’, dir. Mari Gulbiani, 2019

December 4th, 2019|Country: France, Georgia, Germany|

An intimate portrait of two girls in a Georgian village who come of age and learn about the beauty of cinema, while their fathers are in Syria fighting for mujahideen groups

Music: Davlatmand Kholov and Abdoussatar Abdoullaev, Tadjikistan. Davlatmand, Art and Folk Music, 1992

November 5th, 2019|Country: Tajikistan|

Music from the mountains of Pamir infused with Sufi mysticism as performed by its master: a testament to the power of Tajik-Persian culture that will entice lovers of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Recipe: Adjika, the Heritage Condiment From Abkhazia That All Hot Pepper Lovers Must Try

October 31st, 2019|Country: Abkhazia|

An easy to make pepper-garlic paste that's somewhere between Asian and Mediterranean: traditionally served with cheese grits or used for roast meats, it adds an unexpected twist to any dish

7 Fresh Animated Short Films Directed by Women From All Over the World

October 28th, 2019|Country: Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, USA|

Topless supermarkets, museum exhibits riddled with anxiety, nature-loving robots, immigrant artists and albatross soup: there’s nothing that’s out of bounds for women at Animation Block Party

Film: State Funeral, dir. Sergei Loznitsa, 2019

October 14th, 2019|Country: Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine|

An immersive experience of Joseph Stalin’s 1953 funeral proceedings carefully constructed from archival footage that gives a rare glimpse into the psyche of the era

Abkhazia	Congo-Brazzaville	Indonesia	New Zealand	Spain
Afghanistan	Costa Rica	Iran	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Albania	Côte d’Ivoire	Iraq	Niger	Sudan
Algeria	Croatia	Ireland	Nigeria	Suriname
Andorra	Cuba	Israel	Niue	Sweden
Angola	Cyprus	Italy	North Korea	Switzerland
Antigua-and-Barbuda	Czech Republic	Iwaidja People	North Ossetia	Syria
Argentina	Dagestan	Jamaica	Norway	Taiwan
Armenia	Denmark	Japan	Oman	Tajikistan
Arrernte	Dominica	Jordan	Pakistan	Tamil Nadu
Aruba	Dominican Republic	Kanak People	Palestine	Tanzania
Australia	DR Congo	Karelia	Panama	Tatarstan
Austria	Dunghutti People	Kashmir	Papua New Guinea	Thailand
Azerbaijan	Ecuador	Kazakhstan	Paraguay	Tibet
Bahamas	Eelam Tamil	Kenya	Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians	Timor-Leste
Bahrain	Egypt	Kosovo	Peru	Tiwi Islands
Balochistan	El Salvador	Kurdistan	Philippines	Togo
Bangladesh	Estonia	Kyrgyzstan	Poland	Tonga
Barbados	Eswatini	Laos	Portugal	Torres Strait Islands
Bashkortostan	Ethiopia	Latvia	Puerto Rico	Transnistria
Belarus	Faroe Islands	Lebanon	Qatar	Trinidad and Tobago
Belgium	Fiji	Liberia	Rapa Nui	Tunisia
Belize	Finland	Libya	Reunion	Turkey
Benin	France	Lithuania	Roma	Turkmenistan
Bermuda	French Guiana	Luxembourg	Romania	Tuvalu
Bhutan	Gabon	Macedonia	Russia	Uganda
Biripi People	Gambia	Madagascar	Rwanda	Ukraine
Bolivia	Garifuna Nation	Malak Malak People	Saint Kitts and Nevis	United Kingdom
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Garrwa People	Malawi	Saint Lucia	Uruguay
Botswana	Georgia	Malaysia	Saint Vincent and The Grenadines	USA
Brazil	Germany	Mali	Samoa	Uyghur Nation
Brunei	Ghana	Malta	San Marino	Uzbekistan
Bulgaria	Golan Heights	Māori	Sao Tome and Principe	Vanuatu
Burkina Faso	Greece	Martinique	Saudi Arabia	Venezuela
Burundi	Greenland	Mauritania	Scotland	Vietnam
Buryatia	Grenada	Mauritius	Senegal	Wales
Cabo Verde	Guatemala	Mexico	Serbia	Wallis and Futuna
Cambodia	Guinea	Moldova	Sierra Leone	Water
Cameroon	Guyana	Monaco	Singapore	Yemen
Canada	Haida Gwaii	Morocco	Slovakia	Yöruk People
Central African Republic	Haiti	Mozambique	Slovenia	Zambia
Chad	Ho-Chunk Nation	Myanmar	Solomon Islands	Zimbabwe
Chile	Honduras	Namibia	Somalia
China	Hong Kong	Native American Tribes	South Africa
Chinook Nation	Hungary	Nepal	South Korea
Colombia	Iceland	Netherlands	South Ossetia
Comoros	India	New Caledonia	South Sudan

POST-SOVIET TERRITORIES

An Ethnographic Documentary on the Harsh But Satisfying Realities of Living in Siberia That Beguiled Werner Herzog—’Happy People: A Year in Taiga’, dir. Dmitry Vasyukov, 2007

How a Cultural Appropriation Dispute Among ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Obsessed Artists Lead to a Celebration of the Many Indigenous Cultures of the Ex-Soviet Territories

The Pragmatic, Wholesome Hip-Hop of Russia’s Musical Prodigy—Antoha MC, “Pro Menya”, 2019

The Breakaway State on the Cusp of Adulthood—‘Transnistra’, dir. Anna Eborn, 2019

Money, Madness, and Mysteries of Outlaw Capitalism—‘My Father the Banker’, dir. Ieva Ozoliņa, 2015

The Magnificent Pencil Pushers: The Planet’s Leading Miniature Carvers Working on the Sharp End, Part 2

Fuzzy Fur and Fuzzier Ethics of Taxidermy: ‘Animus Animalis’, dir. Aistė Žegulytė, 2018 & ‘Stuffed,’ dir. Erin Derham, 2019

The Dark, Brainy and Radiant Rap of an Ex-Offender From Belarus—Sirop, ‘Strashila,’ 2020

The Many Facets of Kyrgyz Womanhood—‘Jamilia’, dir. Aminatou Echard, 2018

Water Tells Its Own Story–‘Aquarela,’ dir. Victor Kossakovsky, 2019

Woman, Winter, Work Camp—Guzel Yakhina, ‘Zuleikha,’ trans. Lisa C. Hayden

Family Values, Fraud, Post-Colonialism, and Scary Healing Rituals in ‘Suleiman Mountain’, dir. Elizaveta Stishova, 2017

From Beslan hostage to hip-hop artist—Indi, ‘Perviy’, 2019

Daughters of Mujahideen in ‘Before Father Gets Back’, dir. Mari Gulbiani, 2019

Music: Davlatmand Kholov and Abdoussatar Abdoullaev, Tadjikistan. Davlatmand, Art and Folk Music, 1992

Recipe: Adjika, the Heritage Condiment From Abkhazia That All Hot Pepper Lovers Must Try

7 Fresh Animated Short Films Directed by Women From All Over the World

Film: State Funeral, dir. Sergei Loznitsa, 2019

ISSUES

POST-SOVIET TERRITORIES

CAPITALISM

QUEER VOICES

FEMALE POWER

BLACK ART MATTERS

MIGRATION

POLITICS

INDIGENOUS

COLONIALISM

COMING OF AGE

DISABILITY

ALL THE WORLD'S TERRITORIES AND CULTURES WE'VE WRITTEN ABOUT