Slava Ukraini

SLAVA UKRAINI is the latest first-person political documentary by French filmmaker and public philosopher, Bernard-Henry Lévy, directly from the front lines of the war in Ukraine. The film follows Lévy on the ground from the first days of the extraordinary Ukrainian counteroffensive through the liberation of Kherson. It takes the form of a travel journal of the last half of 2022 during more than ten trips Lévy made to Ukraine. SLAVA UKRAINI is an ode to the courageous public and armed forces of Ukraine and a call to action for the West to continue delivering support to Ukraine with increasing urgency and solidarity. The film begins in Kharkiv, in Donbas and ends in Kherson on the day following the liberation of the city. Over the course of the film Lévy crisscrosses the country, embedded with the Ukrainian special forces; filming in Bakhmut, Lyman and Kharkiv; standing in solidarity with the citizens of Kyiv during horrific attacks on civilian infrastructure; filming the evacuation of Donbas; following the action near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; descending into the underground mines where workers face mortal danger; visiting assembly line workers producing war materials, and interviewing the high school students who refuse to stop living. The film is an ode to the bravery of Ukraine – starting with the military of course. But it also is about the resilience of the Ukrainian people. It encompasses events large and small: life threatening risks, passionate emotions, heartbreaking accounts of survivors, grief stricken mourning, reports from bombed cites, the faces of defiant Ukrainians. In sum, the true story of a war with no equivalent in the past three- quarters of a century, a war to which Lévy is an engaged and clear-eyed witness. SLAVA UKRAINI is a call to resist battle fatigue or any waves of defeatism. It is a passionate reminder to Europe and America that Ukrainians are fighting with their blood, bodies and soul for the freedom of the world.