 Sunday, July 31st, 11am to 8:30pm |
 Cinema Arts Centre "Olga" Featuring a prerecorded conversation with filmmaker Elie Grappe and star Anastasiia Budiashkina Members $10 | Public $15 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS 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 |  St. John's Episcopal Church In the Garden of Blessings 11 am - 1 pm In the Sanctuary 12:45 - Door open to Sanctuary 1:15-1:45 - Alex Pryrodny, jazz, classical & original piano pieces 2:00-2:30 - Toby Walker, master blues guitarist, storyteller and vocalist 2:45-3:15 - Lesya Verba, Ukrainian folk vocalist on bandura 3:30-4:00 - Nataliya Medvedovskaya, piano & Veronica Kaninska, soprano, Ukrainian artists 4:15-4:45 - The Toby Tobias Ensemble, quartet performing originals with a South African beat 5:00-5:30 - Gathering Time, folk and originals featuring Stuart Marcus and Christine Sweeney 5:45-6:15 - The Queazles, popular quintet playing their farewell concert of pop and rock classics Tickets to the Marketplace and concerts at the church are by a suggested donation of $30, more if possible and less if necessary, and purchased at the door. |
Co-produced by Patricia Shih, St. John's Episcopal Church & the Cinema Arts Centre Contact Patricia Shih for more information: (516) 356-6501 or patshih9@gmail.com  |