Film: A Rising Fury

The Shevchenko Scientific Society is proud to partner in supporting the critically acclaimed feature documentary A Rising Fury about the Russo-Ukrainian War, which will have a limited theatrical release in New York City at Cinema Village from Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2023. This theatrical premiere will commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv, Ukraine.  Tickets are on sale now.

A RISING FURY: Ukraine, 2022, 82 min. In English/Ukrainian. Directed by Lesya Kalynska and Ruslan Batytskyi; Producers: Lesya Kalynska, Ruslan Batytskyi, TJ Collins, Jonathan Borge Lie; Screenwriters: Lesya Kalynska, TJ Collins; Director of Photography: Ruslan Batytskyi; Editors: Araby Kelley, Lesya Kalynska, Ruslan Batytskyi; Composer: Emiliano Mazzenga. Pomegranate Studios in co-production with Batytskyi production and UpNorth Film.

A Rising Fury premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film festival and screened at numerous international film festivals. The film is directed by Ukrainian American filmmaker Lesya Kalynska and Ukrainian filmmaker Ruslan Batytskyi. They produced it along with TJ Collins (USA) and Jonathan Borge Lie (Norway). The film was nominated for best documentary and other top awards in nine international film festivals including Stockholm IFF, Warsaw IFF, Oslo Films from the South FF, Cleveland IFF, and won several awards including the Supreme Jury Award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in 2023.

Film Threat gives A Rising Fury 5 stars and says it’s “A masterclass of documentary filmmaking… brilliant on every level. One of the best films of the year.” FILM INK gives it4.5 stars and says it’s a “Wake up call… a powerful statement as to what the Ukrainians are fighting for. Filmmaker Magazine says it’s “A breathtakingly cinematic explainer of current events”.

A Rising Fury reveals the true untold story of how the Russo-Ukrainian war began in2014 and proves that it was prepared as far back as 2007. This is a unique film that explains how we arrived at this point in history through events and personal accounts on the ground. The film team followed several people for nearly 10 years from the Revolution of Dignity in 2013 to the battlefields in Eastern Ukraine, and during the full-scale invasion in 2022. It’s a story about love, revolution, betrayal, and war told through intimate verité material. It required multiple expeditions to the front lines and extensive filming in Kyiv.

This theatrical release is made possible with the support of the following organizations:
Production company: Pomegranate Studios, Inc.
Event sponsor: Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
Associate event sponsor: Ukrainian American Business and Professionals Association
Partners: Shevchenko Scientific Society and The Brighter Ukraine Foundation.

About the Directors:

Lesya Kalynska is a Ukrainian-American NYC based award-winning director, producer, and screenwriter. Born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, she holds a PhD in Literature andan MFA in film writing and directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Lesya then worked in Kyiv as a director of a docuseries about World War II “Level of Secrecy 18”.After completing several award-winning short films Kalynska wrote, directed, and produced the feature documentary “A Rising Fury” about the Russo-Ukrainian war that was filmed for nearly 10 years. The World Premiere took place at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022. It was the winner of several awards including the Supreme Jury Award and the Best International Director Award at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. The film was nominated for the Bronze Horse Award at the Stockholm FF, Best Documentary at the Warsaw IFF and the Golden Duke Award at the Odessa IFF.

Ruslan Batytskyi was born in the Dnipropetrovs’k region of Eastern Ukraine on Aug3rd, 1986. After finishing school in 2003 he entered Dnipropetrovs’k National University where he received a Master’s degree in cybernetics and management. In 2009 he began studying cinema at the Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema, and Television. His several short films “Lethargy”, “Reed” and “Ukrainian Lessons” were presented at international festivals and received several awards. In 2016-2018 he created a short documentary series “The least part of the work”. The series told the stories of people with neurosurgical diseases, how it changed their lives and their spirit going through many challenges. Ruslan has worked alongside Lesya Kalynska to debut “A Rising Fury”. The film is about the war in Ukraine and has been filming nearly 10years. The World Premiere of “A Rising Fury” took place at the Tribeca Film Festival in June of 2022.