Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World (2024)
Director: Michael Fiore Run Time: 106 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2024
Starring: David Duchovny, Eric Adams, Jason Birchard, Kathy Hochul, Tom Birchard
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
World Premiere, 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival
For 70 years, New York City’s beloved Ukrainian restaurant Veselka has been best known for its borscht and varenyky, but it has become a beacon of hope for Ukraine. As the second-generation owner Tom Birchard reluctantly retires after 54 years, his son Jason faces the pressures of stepping into his father’s shoes as the war in Ukraine impacts his family and staff.
From director Michael Fiore, Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World (2024) tells the history of the iconic establishment speaks to the Ukrainian experience in America. The film is narrated by David Duchovny, a Golden Globe winner and native of Lower Manhattan’s Little Ukraine.
About the filmmaker:
Michael Fiore is Chief Creative Officer of Fiore Media Group, a multi-disciplined collective of artists and crew based in New York and Los Angeles. A seasoned writer/director and producer/editor, Fiore’s work has received critical acclaim from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), worldwide film festivals, advertising competitions, and acclaimed writer Stephen King, among many others. Among previous work, Fiore co-directed the Netflix documentary Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016) about the first African American animator at Disney. Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World (2024) is his first solo feature as writer and director.
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