With Bakhyt Kenjeev, Andrey Grtitsman, Boris Khersonsky, Tatiana Voltskaya, Nina Kossman, Eli Bar-Yahalom, Emilia Rozenshteyn, Semyon Reznik, Alex Volodarskiy, Alexander Rudkevich, Victor Fet. Film editing by Ellina Savitsky; Ilya Zmejev, consultant.
The interviewer asks three questions:
1) The debate between Slavophiles and Westerners began about two hundred years ago. Do you think this topic is related to the current catastrophe (the war in Ukraine)?
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2) Are there any Russian poems that you fell out of love with after the war began? If there are, which ones?
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3) What would you like to say to those who live in the Russian Federation and, risking their freedom, openly oppose the war?
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After the film had been created and edited, we got the news of “partial” mobilization, and the topics under discussion took on a new meaning.
Vita Shtivelman is a poet, essayist, and the founder and director of EtCetera—a club of the arts and sciences. She was born in Chernivtsi and grew up in Kazan; she emigrated to Israel in 1990 and moved to Canada in 1999. Vita is a member of the Union of Russian Writers in Israel. She received awards from different literary and cultural organizations, including the Canadian Ethnic Media Association.
A new book of poems by Nina Kossman. “When the mythological and personal meet, something transforms for this reader…” -Ilya Kaminsky
From the myths of the ancient Near East to the secluded palaces of forgotten empires, Harems: Origins and Eunuchs uncovers how the idea of the harem first emerged — not only as a symbol of power and beauty, but also as a reflection of human desire, faith, and control. With the precision of a historian and the sensitivity of a storyteller, Sergii Mazurkevych traces the hidden world of eunuchs, devotion, and intrigue that shaped entire civilizations. A thoughtful and visually rich journey into one of history’s most secret institutions.
This excellent anthology, compiled and edited by Julia Nemirovskaya, showcases poems by Russian (and Russian-speaking) poets who express their absolute rejection of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
