EXCLUSIVE: France tv distribution has boarded international sales on French philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Lévy and director-photographer Marc Roussel’s documentary Slava Ukraini and will launch the title at the EFM.
The film documents the situation in Ukraine in the final months of 2022 as Russia’s brutal invasion of the country ground on.
ARP Sélection will theatrically release the feature doc in France on February 22, just two days before the first anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Slava Ukraini visits the conflict’s hotspots through a war diary documenting trips to Kharkiv in the frontline region of the Donbas as well as the strategic Black Sea-Dnieper River port of Kherson, in the aftermath of the city’s liberation on November 11, 2022.
It bears witness to the ravages of war through the testimonies of soldiers, chronicles of the frontline and portraits of civilians, and shares the struggle of the Ukrainian people.
France tv distribution SVP International Sales Julia Schulte and deputy SVP International Sales Renan Artukmaç described the film as “an important statement of solidarity”.
“Slava Ukraini goes on a journey through the attacked territories of Ukraine, giving a voice to the brave who do not give up the fight for their country, their freedom and democracy,” they said.
The documentary follows Lévy’s 2022 feature doc Why Ukraine, which captured the early months of the invasion and was recently broadcast on the French-German channel Arte.
Both films were produced by Lévy’s long-time producer François Margolin at Margo Cinema.
Lévy, or BHL as he is known in his native France, has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, saying that its defeat at the hands of the Russians would be a blow not only for the country but for democracy in Europe and worldwide.
He has been a regular visitor to the country since its 2014 revolution which overthrew Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovych and has strong ties with the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
French media reported in early February that Lévy had arranged a special screening of Slava Ukraini at Claude Lelouch’s Ciné 13 theatre in Paris for Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksi Reznikov and his French counterpart Sébastian Lecournu when the former travelled to the French capital for talks with President Emmanuel Macron.
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