It's fitting that Berkeley should host the Bay Area premiere of Olmi's newest film, a ravishing documentary on the international Slow Food movement whose North American epicenter is undoubtedly right here. Conceived in 2006 by Olmi and Slow Food president Carlo Petrini, the film follows the international Terra Madre (or “Mother Earth”) gatherings held in Turin, which bring together chefs, farmers, shepherds, fishermen, and organizations devoted to moving the food industry away from the sprawling, globalized big business that it has become. Impassioned speeches, performances, and profiles of local activist movements give the film a solid anchor in theory and action, but Olmi knows better than to distract from Terra Madre's true heroine: the earth itself. The film pays tribute to the natural world in loving detail, especially during a grand finale set in Italy's bucolic Adige Valley.

Terra Madre is repeated on Wednesday, October 28.