''Russian Dolls: Sex Trade'' (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ''Matroesjka's'', meaning

Matryoshka doll Matryoshka dolls (), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name ''Matryoshka'' is a diminutive form of ''Matryosha'' (), i ...

, also known as ''Matrioshki'' or ''Matrёshki'') is a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series about a group of women from Lithuania and Russia who are taken to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

by a gang involved in the

sex trade The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related se ...

to work as

sex slaves Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual ...

. The series starts in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, where the girls are chosen and where they have to sign a contract in Greek, which they cannot understand. The gang, under the lead of Ray Van Mechelen, takes the girls to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and from there they are taken to Club 69 in Belgium to work. ''Russian Dolls'' is sponsored by the (''Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds''). ''Russian Dolls'' is produced and directed by and . Because of explicit scenes of sex and violence, the program is not appropriate for people under 16 years of age (according to Dutch and Belgian ratings).

General overview

Although based on the problems associated with the sex trade, the series is not so much a documentary or engaged criticism of those problems as it is a source of entertainment. However, director Marc Punt has said that it wouldn't be terrible if the series made people aware of those problems. Already, the series is used to warn women in the former Eastern Bloc of the practices associated with the sex trade. The program was first broadcast on the Belgian channels

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

(now known as "Prime") and VTM. After ten episodes, ''Russian Dolls'' received a viewership in excess of 1.1 million. Other countries picked up the show as well. A deal was negotiated between VTM, Independent Productions, and several foreign commercial broadcasters to make a second season. The second season finished shooting in October 2007 and aired in Belgium in 2008. Thus far, the series has twenty episodes. The British composer

David Julyan David Julyan is an English musician and score composer. He is best known for composing the scores for director Christopher Nolan's early films. Early life David Julyan was born in 1967 in Cheltenham, England. Other projects In 2006, he scor ...

provided the musical score for the series. The theme song is " Post-Modern Sleaze" by British group

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and " Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an articl ...

. The song from Season 2 Episode 5 playing in Bulgaria is Tazi Vecher by Sonq Nemska. A second season titled ''Matrioshki 2'' was released in 2007 and continues to deal with

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

for

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

in Europe. The series takes place three years after the first serial, when the traffickers from the first season are released from jail and go to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. This time it deals not only with prostitution of eastern European girls, but also with trafficking of Asian girls brought back for

prostitution in Europe The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country. Some countries outlaw the act of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money, while others allow prostitution itself, but not most forms of procuring (such as operating brothels, ...

, sometimes to help their families.

International broadcasts

The first season can be seen in the following countries: Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Australia, Russia, Serbia, Brazil, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Montenegro, Estonia, Albania and Chile. In Portugal it airs on

Fox Crime Fox Crime (stylized as FOXCRIME), was a television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group, which aired across several countries of Europe, Africa and Asia such as Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Its basic programming including n ...

. In Turkey and Italy the show airs on FX. In Mexico, the series airs on

Once TV Canal Once (channel 11) (stylised as canal once, formerly once and once tv) is a Mexican educational broadcast television network owned by National Polytechnic Institute. The network's flagship station is XEIPN-TDT channel 11 in Mexico City. I ...

. The Film Zone shows the first ten episodes in some countries from Latin America.

Cast

Peter Van Den Begin Peter Alfons Christiaan Van Den Begin (born 25 October 1964 in Berchem) is a Belgian actor and director. He has two daughters with actress and singer-songwriter Tine Reymer. His very first theater performances include acting in such plays as ...

- Raymond "Ray" van Mechelen; runs Studio 69. * Eugenia Hirivskaya - Kalinka *

Axel Daeseleire Axel Dorothée Marc Daeseleire (born 26 October 1968) is a Belgium, Belgian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jan Verplancke in Belgian television series ''Matroesjka's'', and movies such as ''Team Spirit (film), Team Spirit''. Filmog ...

- Jan Verplancke *

Tom Van Dyck Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * Tom (1973 film), ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * Tom ...

- Vincent Dockx; became paralysed when Ray pushed him, after trying to make Kalinka give him a blowjob. At the end of the first season he died. *

Žemyna Ašmontaitė Žemyna (also Žemynėlė or Žemelė) (from – ''earth'') is the goddess of the earth in Lithuanian religion. She is usually regarded as mother goddess and one of the chief Lithuanian gods similar to Latvian Zemes māte. Žemyna personifie ...

- Daria * Indrė Jaraitė - Inesa * Luk Wyns - Eddy Stoefs; the manager of Studio 69 and is very keen of his money. * Veerle De Jonghe - Esther Van De Walle * Lyudmila Lipner - Debora * Ailika Kremer - Eva *

Lyubov Tolkalina Lyubov Nikolaevna Tolkalina (; born 5 February 1978) is a Russian theater and film actress. Biography In 1999 she graduated from the Theatre Faculty of the National Institute of Cinematography (aka VGIK). From 1999 to 2003 she was an actress a ...

- Olga *

Marc Van Eeghem Marc Van Eeghem (14 September 1960 – 14 December 2017) was a Belgian actor. Career Theatre Van Eeghem studied acting at the Studio Herman Teirlinck until 1983. That year marked the start of a career in theater, in addition to roles in feat ...

- Marc Camps *

Stany Crets Stany may refer to the following places: *Stany, Lubusz Voivodeship Stany is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nowa Sól, within Nowa Sól County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Nowa S ...

- Clem De Donder *

Lucas Van den Eynde Lucas Van den Eynde (born 23 February 1959) is a Belgian actor who has acted in theater films and television programs and also dubbed animated films in Belgian Dutch. In 1998, he was the recipient of the Arlecchino Award (the award presented an ...

- reporter Nico Maes * Manou Kersting - Danny Bols * Frank Aendenboom - John Dockx; father of Vincent and uncle to Ray. He appears to be the big boss of Studio 69. * Natalya Reva - Inga * Hilde Heijnen - Laura Keyser * Svetlana Abolenkina - Luna * Zorina Tanasova - Irina * Vilma Raubaitė - Kasandra * Saartje Vandendriessche - Sita *

Wim Opbrouck Wim Opbrouck is a Flemish actor and singer from Belgium who is especially known for his work on stage. Early life and education Wim Opbrouck comes from Bavikhove, part of Harelbeke and studied at the Herman Teirlinck Studio. Career Opbrou ...

- Mike Simons * Peter Thyssen - Rudi Sierens *

Eric Godon Eric Godon (born 7 February 1959) is a Belgian character actor, director and writer. Recognisable by his burly appearance and deep voice, he is perhaps best known in English language circles, for his roles in ''In Bruges'', and '' The Missing'' ...

- Jean-Paul The show has also included several guest roles

Ludo Hellincx Ludo (; ) is a Abstract strategy game, strategy-based board game for two to four players, in which the players race game, race their four from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice, die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo ...

(Nelson Nilis),

Karel Deruwe Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...

(officer),

Jan Decleir Jan Decleir (born as ''Jan Amanda Gustaaf Decleir'' on 14 February 1946) is a prolific Belgian movie and stage actor born in Niel, Antwerp. Career He had his first big role in Fons Rademakers's ''Mira'' (1971). Since then, he has appeared in ...

(Wim Wilson's father),

Chris Lomme Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian author ...

(Monique Wilson), and

Warre Borgmans Warre is a surname, and may refer to: * Edmond Warre (1837–1920), English rower and head master of Eton College * Émile Warré, French beekeeper who invented the Warré Hive * Francis Warre Warre-Cornish (1839–1916), British scholar and writer ...

(Dokter Van Looy).

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0320882
Article about Matrioshkis 2 in Media-Culture.org

Article about Matrioshki 2 (in Dutch)

Filmweb.pl
Flemish television shows Television shows set in Belgium Belgian drama television shows Television shows about prostitution Works about sex trafficking Works about human trafficking Human trafficking in Belgium Works about prostitution in Belgium Works about organized crime in Belgium VTM (TV channel) original programming