Conversation with Roots of Peace founder/CEO and 2023 World Food Prize Laureate Heidi Kühn as well as a representative of the Consulate General of Ukraine following screening.

Rialto Cinemas is hosting two screenings of Bernard-Henri Lévy’s 2023 political documentary Slava Ukraini from the frontlines of Ukraine to benefit California-based non-profit Roots of Peace. Roots of Peace works to restore agriculture to de-mined land in former war zones across the world including Afghanistan, Vietnam, and now, Ukraine.

In Slava Ukraini, one year after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, philosopher and director BernardHenri Lévy takes us to the heart of combat through this war diary made during the second half of 2022. From Kharkiv and Bakhmut to Kherson, in the aftermath of the city’s liberation, this documentary bears witness to the ravages of war through the testimonies of soldiers, chronicles of the front, and portraits of civilians and shares with us the struggle of the Ukrainian people.

Slava Ukraini is an ode to Ukraine’s courageous civil society and armed forces. It is a passionate call to action for the West to continue delivering support to Ukraine with increasing urgency and solidarity. The film follows Lévy on the ground from the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine through the extraordinary Ukrainian counteroffensive in September 2022 and until the aftermath of the liberation of Kherson at the end of the year 2022. Over the course of the film, Lévy crisscrosses the country, embedded with the Ukrainian special forces; filming in Bakhmut, Lyman, Izium, and Kharkiv; standing in solidarity with the citizens of Kyiv during horrific attacks on civilian infrastructure; filming the evacuation of civilians in 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.

For more than twenty years, Roots of Peace has worked in war-torn countries around the world to remove the remnants of war, landmines and unexploded ordinance, and restore the land in order to rebuild peaceful communities for generations to come. Their award-winning methodology is rooted in a philosophy of providing market-driven solutions tailored to rural communities in war-torn lands, serving as a catalyst for industry-wide development. They introduce farmers to new methods and technology, improve export marketing techniques, and create strategies for ramping up food exports to lucrative overseas markets. As a result, Roots of Peace has helped export nearly 160,000 metric tons of fruits, nuts, and spices valued at more than $350 million to international markets, impacting more than one million farmers and families.