Olga
A film whose ideas and emotions have come into a fierce new focus…speaks to the new agony of banishment now being felt by millions of Ukrainians.
Olga
OLGA is a powerful story of resilience and identity from first-time writer-director Elie Grappe. 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.
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.
“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
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.
“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
Genre
Drama,
Sport,
Women and Film
Runtime
87
Language
French,
Ukrainian,
Russian
Director
Elie Grappe
Writer(s)
Elie Grappe
Cast
Anastasiia Budiashkina
Awards:
Winner, SACD Prize (Directors' Fortnight), Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, Grand Prize Critics Week ~ Fipresci Award, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, Golden Camera, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, FIPRESCI Prize ~ Best Foreign Language Film, Palm Springs International Film Festival
Nominee, Young Cineastes Award, Palm Springs International Film Festival
MOREFEATURED REVIEW
Peter Debruge, Variety
An intense portrait of personal obsession — à la “Black Swan” — set at the time of 2013’s Maidan Uprising, “Olga” anticipates so much of the current situation in Ukraine. Elie Grappe’s prescient debut begins and ends in a country whose people united against corruption, successfully ousting Russian ...
Played at
Royal 7.08.22 - 7.14.22
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