Back to Bucha and TheoEco Receive Grant from Bear Witness

By Steve Richards

I am very pleased and honored to announce that we have received a grant from Bear Witness to help fund the production of our new documentary Back to Bucha and get it to the promotional phase. It is a real boost not only to the film’s finances but is also a vote of confidence in TheoEco and the film.

​Here’s what Alex Gamota, President of Bear Witness, had to say about the non-profit’s reasons for bestowing the grant:

"I met Steve Richards last year at a showing of his first Ukraine related documentary, "Trek to Bucha."  This film captures the everyday humanity of Ukrainians in the immediate aftermath of the withdrawal of Russian forces from Bucha and Irpin, when the world was being introduced to the unimaginable atrocities committed there.  "Back to Bucha" was filmed a year later - the war is ongoing but the spirit of Ukraine and Ukrainians' hunger for self-determination and freedom has grown.  Steve's film is a snapshot of Ukraine's resilience at the most human level: lives, livelihoods, and homes being rebuilt, religious faiths of all types being tested and strengthened, families, including with children, adjusting to the new, at times horrific, "normal."  Bear Witness is proud to help introduce the film's central characters, real life freedom-fighters of Ukraine, to Americans, to give them the spotlight they need to show why their fight is so important to the US and the rest of the world.

“Putin's army continues to ravage Ukraine, terrorize its citizens, and destabilize the global community. Russia’s unprovoked invasion is a direct existential threat to democracies around the world. Putin believes that the US and the global community will get 'Ukraine fatigue' and stop supporting the country's inspiring 'David-like' defense.

​“The non-profit Bear Witness was created to help keep the war and its broader implications top of mind for Americans and the world. Bear Witness supports filmmakers, such as Steve, who go beyond the headlines to heavily impacted regions to document the suffering and destruction, and also the resilience, of the people of Ukraine. This is the type of film Bear Witness wants to bring to light —urgent, compelling, cost-effective, and motivated." - Alex Gamota, President, Bear Witness

​Once again, we are honored to be recipients of this grant and look forward to bringing the film to audiences beginning in late April.

“Bear Witness, a non-profit corporation, was formed in April 2022.  We’re a collective of US-based Executives, Educators, Community Organizers and Artists with relevant Ukraine and US work and living experiences, including government, legal, film making, and start-ups. Relevant US and Ukrainian advisors are involved.” 
Bear-Witness.org​