Ukrainian Fundraiser
OLGA
Featuring a prerecorded conversation with filmmaker Elie
Grappe and star Anastasiia Budiashkina
Sunday, July 31st at 12noon and 7 PM
Members $10 | Public
$15
a portion of every ticket purchase will be will be
donated to the charities "World Central Kitchen" & "Direct Relief" for their work in Ukraine
A powerful portrait of a teenage Ukrainian gymnast in
Exile from Writer/Director Elie Grappe
Olga is a talented teenage Ukrainian gymnast exiled in
Switzerland, dreaming of Olympic gold and trying to fit in with her new team in
her new home. As she prepares for the European Championships, the Ukrainian
people back home in Kyiv rise up in what has become known as the Maidan
Revolution, suddenly involving everyone she cares about. Olga is left a
powerless, distant bystander as her mother, an investigative journalist, faces
danger as she challenges the brutal Yanukovich regime. Incorporating
documentary footage from the 2013 uprising, Olga is a tense, sensitively
handled tale of exile reflecting the clash between the personal and the
political in a young woman’s search for identity. The film was awarded the SACD
Prize at the 2021 Cannes Critics’ Week and stars former Ukrainian National Team
gymnast Anastasiia Budiashkina in her first film role. In a
sad case of life imitating art - Anastasiia has recently escaped Ukraine during
the attacks on her country. The film and her story are incredibly personal and
harrowing. (Ukraine, 2021, 87 min.,
color, DCP, In French, Ukrainian, and Russian with English subtitles | Dir.
Elie Grappe)
“Grappe paints indelible images of physically
powerful, mentally vulnerable young women who want to step up to the podium at
all costs… Budiashkina is a terrific presence, and the film is in thrall to her
powers.”
– Fionnuala Halligan, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
“This is a film whose ideas and emotions have come
into a fierce new focus… in its unexpected way, this film speaks to the new agony
of banishment now being felt by millions of Ukrainians."
– Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
Alongside our screening, St. John's Episcopal Church will be hosting a marketplace fundraiser with live music from Ukrainian & Long Island artists, art, jewelry, crafts, food & drinks. Visit St. John's Episcopal Church on Sunday, July 31st, from 11am - 5 pm for the market, with live music from 1pm-6:30pm!
