FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Razom for Ukraine Presents the Third Annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival “Against the Grain”: A Month-Long Celebration of Art, Theater, Film, and Literature in New York City
Discover how Ukrainian artists defy convention and forge new cultural paths with bold, boundary-pushing creativity. Tradition remixed. Vision uncompromized.
Highlights Include:
Theater: NYC debut of Lesia Ukrainka’s groundbreaking drama “Cassandra”
Film: Vibrant showcase featuring U Are the Universe, Viktor, and 2000 Meters to Andriivka, alongside short film selections from the Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) and Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival
Visual Art: Defiant aesthetics partnering with The Ukrainian Museum to support two exhibitions: Boris Mikhailov, showcasing the work of one of Ukraine’s most acclaimed photographers, and Light on the Waves: Video Art of Odesa by Andrii Siguntsov
Literature: Spotlight on innovative works by Booker Prize–nominated Maria Reva, Oksana Lutsyshyna, Olia Hercules, Volodymyr Rafeyenko, Sam Wachman and more
(New York, NY – September 5, 2025) – This October, Razom for Ukraine announces the return of its acclaimed Ukrainian Cultural Festival, now expanded into a month-long citywide celebration with the theme Against the Grain. From October 1 to 31, audiences will experience daily events spanning theater, film, literature, and visual art, spotlighting the fearless creativity of Ukrainian artists who defy convention and reshape global culture.
In just two years, the Ukrainian Cultural Festival has become a vital fixture of New York City’s fall arts calendar. For 2025, Razom deepens its commitment with an unprecedented 31 days of programming across leading cultural venues. Against the Grain’s goal is to highlight how Ukrainian artists, through defiance, resilience, and innovation, create works that challenge assumptions and expand the boundaries of contemporary art.
Performing Arts – Spotlight on Lesia Ukrainka’s Cassandra
At the heart of the festival is Razom’s first-ever theatrical co-production with Ekletika Productions: Lesia Ukrainka’s Cassandra. This visionary play, never before staged in the U.S., will run for ten performances (October 10-19) during the month. Ukrainka’s epic reimagining of the Trojan War, through the eyes of Cassandra, a prophetess doomed never to be believed, resonates with striking relevance today. The production underscores the festival’s theme, as Ukrainka herself was a writer who went against the grain, challenging imperial and patriarchal narratives and affirming Ukrainian identity through literature and drama.
The festival also showcases Razom’s commitment to the performing arts with music, poetry, and additional theatrical works. A Romantic from Kharkiv is a piano recital and album release by Anna Shelest that channels both intimacy and resilience through music. Apocollapse! by Dean Temple brings audiences a staged reading of a provocative new play interrogating endings, survival, and rebirth. Our Life Behind Barbed Wire by Alex Averbuch with Olga Zaitseva-Herz, presented at the Shevchenko Scientific Society, is a musico-poetic experience blending words and sound to illuminate histories of displacement and memory. Together, these projects exemplify the festival’s mission of working against the grain by crossing disciplines and challenging form.
Film – A Bold Showcase of Ukrainian Films
Cinema lovers will encounter a striking cross-section of Ukrainian stories. Feature films include U Are the Universe, Viktor, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, My Dear Theo, and Editorial Office, alongside short film selections from the Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) and Linoleum Contemporary Animation and Media Art Festival. These screenings bring together urgent, poetic, and provocative voices in contemporary Ukrainian cinema.
Razom Cinema will also host Kyiv to LA with Asha Bukojemsky. Kyiv to LA is a cross-cultural initiative that invites Ukrainian artists, researchers, and art historians to participate in a Los Angeles-based residency and public program. UCF will host a one-night screening featuring four short films by Ukrainian artists Daryna Mamaisur, Oleksiy Radynski, Darya Tsymbalyuk, and the ruїns collective (Teta Tsybulnyk and Elias Parvulesco), who participated in the residency and explored the topics of environment, borders, and shared spaces.
Literature – Voices that Witness
From crossing lines of identity and queerness to bearing witness at a time of war and occupation, literature takes the center stage as an act of resistance and testimony with this year’s programming.
Lines We Cross: Translating Ukraine – An event at the Center for Fiction exploring the complexities of migration, queerness, and identity through fiction (Oksana Lutsyshyna and Sam Wachman.)
Voices of Occupation: Stories of Cultural Survival brings together writings from temporarily occupied regions of eastern and southern Ukraine, including Crimea. This event, held at the New York Public Library’s Stavros Niarchos Library, features Olia Hercules, Volodymyr Rafeyenko, and Natalia Shpylova-Saeed.
Poet as a Witness – at Poet’s House, featuring Ilya Kaminsky, Anna Malihon, Irina Vikirchak and Lesyk Panasiuk and others.
A Reading and Conversation with Ukrainian born Canadian author Maria Reva. In her Booker Prize–nominated novel Endling, Maria Reva explores the metaphor of the “endling” — the last of a species — to examine war, loss, and resilience.
Visual Art – Defiant Aesthetics
In addition to partnering with The Ukrainian Museum, this year’s festival includes an incredible lineup of visual artists across multiple mediums: Memory Patterns by Anna Seniuk, DIA/spora by Igor Martiniouk, I dream of seeing the steppe again by Darya Tsymbalyuk, What the Water Told Me by Oleksandra Zborovska, and Yurko Gutsulyak’s striking Blue-Yellow Series.
Against the Grain
The 2025 festival marks a turning point: what began as a two-week initiative has now grown into a full month of daily events, cementing its place as a platform for cultural exchange and creative resistance. “Against the Grain reflects the spirit of Ukrainian artists today,” says Dora Chomiak, CEO of Razom for Ukraine. “They are responding to war, displacement, and trauma through boldly reshaping tradition, transforming vulnerability into power, and ensuring their voices are in the global conversation.”
Festival Information
Against the Grain: Ukrainian Cultural Festival 2025
Presented by Razom for Ukraine
October 1–31, 2025 | New York City
Full calendar and tickets: www.razomforukraine.org/ucf2025/
Press Contact:
Olga Samofalova
Press Lead, Ukrainian Cultural Festival
olga.samofalova@gmail.com