Olga
Directed by Elie Grappe
A talented young gymnast from Kyiv, played by real-life former Ukrainian national team member Anastasiia Budiashkina, moves to Switzerland to pursue her Olympic dreams in Elie Grappe’s award-winning drama. Set in 2014, the film follows 15-year-old Olga as she tries to make friends on her new team and adjust to life in her new home. As she relentlessly trains in preparation for the European Championships, her friends and family back in the Ukraine are taking to the streets in what would become known as the Maidan Revolution. Olga is left a powerless, distant bystander as her mother, an investigative journalist, faces danger and violence in her work challenging the brutal Yanukovich regime. The historic events depicted in the film are intricately linked with the subsequent Russian invasion, providing rich insight into the current situation in the Ukraine, yet Grappe’s camera never strays from the point of view of a remarkable young woman struggling to find her way in the world. Can Olga reconcile her personal goals as a gymnast with the living history unfolding in her homeland? This tense yet delicate portrait of exile, ambition, and identity won the SACD Prize at Cannes Critics Week and features a star-making turn from its fearless lead.
Reviews More Reviews
“This quietly poignant film… about a tough but vulnerable young Ukrainian gymnast in exile… [is] a heartbreaking reminder of the cost in individual lives and dreams.”
“A timely story of a Ukrainian gymnast torn between her homeland and her ambition.”
“A compelling psychological portrait… paints indelible images of physically powerful, mentally vulnerable young women who want to step up to the podium at all costs.”
“Olga captures, with an excellent sense of atmosphere, the paradoxes of adolescents perfecting a total control over their emotions even as they are boiling inside them.”
“Speaks to the new agony of banishment now being felt by millions of Ukrainians.”
Awards & Festivals
Press & Exhibitors
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Technical Info
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Color: Color
Press & Promotion:
playdates
Venue | City | State | Date |
---|---|---|---|
All Saints Cinema / Tallahassee Film Society | Tallahassee | FL | 1660276800August 12 - November 18, 2022 |
Bear Tooth Theatrepub | Anchorage | AK | 1660536000August 15 - August 16, 2022 |
ByTowne Cinema | Ottawa | ON | 1660104000August 10 - August 19, 2022 |
Cine Culture | Fresno | CA | 1663732800September 21 - October 31, 2022 |
CineCulture | Clovis | CA | 1664769600October 3 - October 10, 2022 |
Cinema Arts Centre | Huntington | NY | 1659240000July 31 - August 1, 2022 |
Cleveland Cinematheque | Cleveland | OH | 1657252800July 8 - August 26, 2022 |
Coral Gables Art Cinema | Coral Gables | FL | 1661313600August 24 - August 25, 2022 |
Dairy Arts Center | Boulder | CO | 1658376000July 21 - July 25, 2022 |
Denver Film / Sie FilmCenter | Denver | CO | 1657252800July 8 - July 15, 2022 |
Digital Gym Cinema | San Diego | CA | 1658462400July 22 - July 29, 2022 |
District Cinema | Washington | DC | 1656475200June 29 - June 30, 2022 |
George Eastman Museum | Rochester | NY | 1657166400July 7 - July 8, 2022 |
Goldtown Nickelodeon Theater | Juneau | AK | 1657944000July 16 - July 22, 2022 |
Harvard Art Museums | Cambridge | MA | 1667707200November 6 - November 7, 2022 |
Laemmle Theatres | Los Angeles | CA | 1657252800July 8 - July 15, 2022 |
Metro Cinema | Edmonton | AB | 1658376000July 21 - July 29, 2022 |
MSP Film Society | Minneapolis | MN | 1657857600July 15 - July 22, 2022 |
Oxnard Film Society | Oxnard | CA | 1659326400August 1 - August 2, 2022 |
Pickford Film Center | Bellingham | WA | 1657857600July 15 - July 29, 2022 |
Quad Cinema | New York | NY | 1656043200June 24 - July 1, 2022 |
Revue Cinema | Toronto | ON | 1658721600July 25 - July 27, 2022 |
Rio Theatre | Vancouver | BC | 1658548800July 23 - July 25, 2022 |
Rose Theatre | Port Townsend | WA | 1657252800July 8 - July 16, 2022 |
Savor Cinema | Fort Lauderdale | FL | 1657598400July 12 - July 13, 2022 |
SIFF Film Center | Seattle | WA | 1659067200July 29 - August 1, 2022 |
Springfield Art Association | Springfield | IL | 1673758800January 15 - January 17, 2023 |
Staller Center for the Arts | Stony Brook | NY | 1658462400July 22 - July 23, 2022 |
The Independent Picture House (Charlotte Film Society) | Charlotte | NC | 1656648000July 1 - July 8, 2022 |
The Nightlight Cinema | Akron | OH | 1657598400July 12 - July 14, 2022 |
Time & Space Limited | Hudson | NY | 1657944000July 16 - July 18, 2022 |
Wilmette Theatre | Wilmette | IL | 1656648000July 1 - July 8, 2022 |
Zeitgeist Theatre | Arabi | LA | 1657857600July 15 - July 29, 2022 |