Based on a short story by Anton Chekhov, Kama Ginkas’ astounding re-imagining highlights and builds off of the Chekhovian tension between the beauty of life and the tragedy of how it is lived. The story tells the the tragic tale of philosophy student Andrey Vasil'ich Kovrin (stage and screen star Sergey Makovetskiy).. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Kovrin decides to visit his childhood friend Tanya Pesotsky at the estate of her father. As...

Alalá La Escuela de Arte, an arts center for children that uses flamenco as an educational language, comes to life thanks to the efforts of well-known guitarist Emilio Caracafé, who together with other artists, offers us his personal vision of this Gypsy neighborhood, where flamenco is a productive element for providing opportunities and has the power to transform society.

A remarkable and educational ethnographic documentary on Bertsolaritza, an ancestral, completely improvised form of Basque poetry. This oral tradition has skillfully evolved and adapted to the times, connecting with the youngest generations with its undeniable formal similarities to rap and other improvised music and art forms.. Official Selection at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Winner of Best Cinematography at the Cine Ceará - National Cinema...

Many political and cultural events sent shockwaves through the Irish world in the 19th and early 20th centuries as Ireland gradually shook off the shackles of British rule. Alongside a long and painful political process arose one of the greatest flourishings of literature in modern times. The Irish Revival that occurred around the turn of the 20th century fused and elevated aesthetic and civic ambitions, fueling a cultural climate of masterful artistic...

First staged in 1904 by Konstantin Stanislavsky in the very theater and on the very stage of this production, director Adolf Shapiro's interpretation asks the question, where would the characters of this play live today years after their cherry orchard has been cut down? The answer, which lies in the material world created by set designer David Borovsky, is, of course, on the stage. Russian star, Renata Litvinova, in her debut theatrical performance,...

"An evening of non-stop laughter." —London Sunday Express.This hilarious farce, which set box office records in London and Paris before coming to Broadway with the inimitable Norman Wisdom as featured player, makes enormous good fun of attempted infidelity and the tangle of misunderstandings which this can—and does—lead to. "What does a sophisticated audience do about this assault on its culture? It rolls in the aisles…the folks just let go,...

Glide into the age of Romanticism, when poets surpassed politicians in setting national agendas. In this lecture, after considering the distinction between civil and ethnic nationalism, you’ll study a number of 19th-century revolutions that swept across the region—and reflect how defeat in these revolutions paved the way for empires..

A 1930 Georgian silent documentary film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. As one of the earliest ethnographic films, it documents the life of the Svan people in the isolated mountain village of Ushguli in Svanetia, in the northwestern part of the Georgian Soviet Republic. Containing some propaganda, the climax of the film shows how a Soviet built road connects the previously isolated mountain village to Soviet civilisation. Many of the scenes of the...

In this final lecture, you’ll revisit the four key themes running through this course and consider whether they still remain true of Eastern Europe today. Look at the region’s economy, politics, ethnicities, and relationships to Western Europe to consider the current state of Eastern Europe and what the future may hold..

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union are two of the most iconic moments in modern history. Trace the events leading up to these moments, from the newly free elections in Poland to the botched press release in East Germany that led to the opening of borders..