Screening times:
Saturday, Feb 15, 5:30 PM - half-capacity screening
Thursday, Feb 20, 6:30 PM
Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev | United States, Ukraine, Australia | 2024 | 87m
English, Ukrainian, and Russian, with English subtitles
Amidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko and Andrey Stefanov are armed with their art, their cameras and, for the first time in their lives, their guns.
Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art. Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad. Slava becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely soldiers. As the war intensifies, Andrey picks up his camera to film their story, and on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and hope for the future.
Originally conceived as a 15-minute short, Porcelain War evolved into a full-length feature documentary. Ultimately, over 500 hours of footage were recorded on 15 cameras, from which over 2,000 pages of transcripts were created, showing two sides of life in this war-torn nation — the peaceful moments of creative expression and the ongoing fighting between combatants.
Co-directed by Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, with extraordinary footage from first-time cinematographer Andrey Stefanov, Porcelain War embodies the passion and fight that only an artist can put back into the world when it’s crumbling around them.
"This film doesn’t flinch from violence, but it finds hope in a people’s patient refusal to surrender who they are." - Johanna Schneller, Globe and Mail
"A sublime and stirring documentary from American filmmaker Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian ceramicist Slava Leontyev about living, fighting, and creating under siege." - Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
"A combination of whimsy and devastation, it looks at the continuing war in Ukraine through the eyes of eccentric artists who carry on with their craft of making adorable little figures even as the Russian invasion disrupts everything." - Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal
Winner Audience Choice Award - Lunenburg Doc Fest 2024
Winner Grand Jury Prize Documentary - Sundance Film Festival 2024
Winner Special Jury Prize - Telluride Mountain Film Festival 2024
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature - Academy Award 2025
Tickets $8.75 ($8 cash at the door if available)
Saturday is a half-capacity screening
