10 March: Olga + Mise En Place (short)

This week’s feature film is Swiss sports drama Olga, directed by Elie Grappe.

In 2013, a teenage gymnast from Ukraine is torn between Switzerland – where she is training for the European Championship – and Kiev, where her mother works as a journalist, reporting on Euromaidan.

Lasting for three months from November 2013, Euromaidan was a series of large-scale protests and civil unrest that took over Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych's surprise decision to not sign a crucial association agreement with the European Union. This move strengthened relations with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, but was completely against what Ukraine’s parliament had voted for, and citizens called for the President’s immediate dismissal from deadly clashes on the streets.

Under massive stress from back home, emotions of rage and guilt seep into the gymnast’s performance.

Olga premiered at the 74th Cannes Film Festival in 2021, and was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. It also took home Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay at the 2022 Swiss Film Awards.

This week we also have a great local short film to premiere – Mise en Place.

Charlie is a dishwasher who works in one of Sydney’s most up-market restaurants, but she has exceptional talent for plating dishes. Facing constant belittlement from a vindictive colleague, Charlie must overcome and step up when the rest of the kitchen are most in need.

Make sure not to miss this exciting double feature when both Olga and Mise En Place screen this Sunday, 10 March from 7pm at the Gala Cinema.

If you’re not yet a member of the 2024 Illawarra Film Society season, it’s still not too late! Sign up now and enjoy the remaining 25+ films, screening weekly throughout the year, for just $99.