Discover everything about politics & society from Klara Emilia

This podcast tells us the story of how the Mexican melodrama "Yesenia" became the biggest box office hit in Soviet history. In the 1970s, the film flopped in Mexico but became a huge hit in the Soviet Union, touching millions of Soviet people and especially women who recognised themselves and their emotional struggles in that film.

Many people tend to think of the Soviet Union as a place completely shut of from the rest of the world. However, this was not the case. Indian and Latin American cinema were very popular and became central for the Soviet cinema landscape.

The weird backstory of how Yesenia became so important is greatly researched in this mubi podcast, which is generally is one of my favourite podcasts produced.

This trilogy is not comparable to anything I have read before. These post-modern novels tell the story of the identical twins Lucas and Claus who are sent to the countryside during the war and suddenly have to adapt to a completely new life. To maintain one part of their previous identity from their city life, they challenge themselves to write in their Notebook the truth and nothing but the truth. The story resembles a fairy tale, with central the central topics of identity, brotherly bond, and human cruelty.

This trilogy plays a psychological game with the reader because until the very end - and even now I am still confused - we do not know what the actual truth is.

To this enigmatic story adds the very brutal, provocative and direct writing of Kristóf, who fled Hungary during the Revolution in 1956 and settled down in Switzerland, where she made French her new writing language.

I couldn't just write about the first book of the triology, because as soon as you start reading one, you can't stop and will be done with the third book faster than you expected.

This documentary is set up in a way that chances are very high that it goes wrong. It only could go wrong, but somehow it didn’t. Paweł Łoziński is sitting on his balcony in Warsaw and films the street and the passerby. And somehow, he managed to create one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen.

It is everything I wanted to see, without knowing it until I finally saw it. This documentary is like a window into the depths of humankind, a glimpse into the interior world of all of us. At the same time, it is also a great visualisation of Polish society. It was funny and sad, and even thinking about this film now gives me goosebumps.This film is subtle, delicate, and simply beautiful.

Thank you for letting me enter the worlds and minds of the people around you. I still think about many of them today.

This novel finds the perfect balance between romance, philosophy and the harsh reality of politics in Czechoslovakia under communism, without ever losing the curiosity of the reader. The title should be read as a trailer for this beautifully poetic writing. The book tells the story of two women and two men during the Prague Spring in 1968, whilst making out of it a timeless piece of literature.

If you haven't read anything by Kundera yet, then this is the perfect book to start your adventure.

The real-life brave new world existed and I just learned about it now. Tomáš Baťa was Czech Republic's Henry Ford, who believed in a utopia that is unimaginable today. He was the founder of the shoe company Bat'a and made out of it a utopist company, city and lifestyle for all its workers. It became a quite authoritarian company, with many rules and regulations and somehow nothing truly went wrong. Just listen to this episode and hear for yourselves!

I still remember the moment I got my first pair of Bat'a shoes. My shoes were completely broken down and my parents decided that it's time for me to get proper shoes. Bat'a shoes. I must have been around 8 years old and it was a big day for me. I got a pair of white leather loafers and was officially a grown-up from that day onwards. Bat'a therefore always had a special place in my heart and finally I learned this amazing background story to the brand that was always more than just a brand to me.

Remembering Yugoslavia is the perfect podcast for your interrail through the Balkans. Every episode takes you on an adventure. It is learning in a fun way. Peter Korchnak's (the host) passion is contagious, and one only wants to know more about this mysterious country with all its layers and hidden histories.

Korchnak explores the memory of Yugoslavia, with all its facetted. Be it politics, history, society, yugonostalgia, (diaspora) identity, rock music, food, minorities, film - there is something for everyone.

Tomorrow, 2nd of June at 19h, the Eastern Neighbors Film Festival is on Tour and on Friday they will be at Kriterion in Amsterdam. The programm includes the screening of five shorts, followed by a Q&A with Jasmina Bilić and Balkan cocktails.

Sounds like fun!