Communiqué

P‍OV

“Porcelain War”

Monday, September 29 at 10:00 pm

POV presents “Porcelain War”, a visceral and deeply personal film that follows three Ukrainian artists as they choose to fight back against Russia with hand-molded porcelain creatures and handheld cameras.

Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and winner of the Grand Jury U.S. Documentary Award at the Sundance Film Festival (2024), “Porcelain War” brings to the front lines the transformative power of art. Set against the brutal backdrop of war-torn Ukraine, the film follows artists Slava Leontyev, his wife Anya Stasenko, and their collaborator Andrey Stefanov— ceramicists whose meticulously detailed porcelain creatures stand in haunting contrast to the chaos and destruction around them.

In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, the trio makes the radical decision to stay behind in their home city of Kharkiv. Armed with cameras, clay, and for the first time in their lives, guns, they confront violence not only with force, but with creativity. As daily shelling becomes the norm, Anya clings to her art as a form of resistance and refuge. Slava, a former art teacher, becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely citizen soldiers. Andrey embarks on a perilous mission to get his young family to safety, then returns to document the surreal new reality that has engulfed his homeland. As the war intensifies, on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and the hope for a future rebuilt.

In “Porcelain War”, co-directors Bellomo and Leontyev blend animation, hand-painted art, and cinéma vérité footage to chronicle lives under siege and capture the spirit of artists determined to live and create on their own terms.

“I am deeply honored to be a part of making this documentary. We all have a role to play in defending democracy, and our freedom of artistic expression is integral to that preservation,” said Brendan Bellomo, co-director, Porcelain War. “During this unique process of international collaborative filmmaking, I learned that no barrier can stop our artistic spirit and its ability to connect us all, even when separated by thousands of miles, language barriers, and an active war zone. When experiencing [the film] Porcelain War, I would like audiences to walk away with a new perspective on not just the conflict in Ukraine, but the beauty and resilience of the human spirit. Brave, everyday people can make a difference in preserving their culture, and the stories we tell – both in art and in cinema – play a vital role. They are not ornamental, but necessary and powerful. We are thrilled to partner with POV in sharing this incredible story with audiences. Public television is more important now than ever – it is somewhere all of us can seek out new perspectives, inform our viewpoints, and find common ground. POV is a place to find those very types of vital, groundbreaking, and diverse stories.”

“Porcelain War” made its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary Award. In 2025, it was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Documentary Feature” category and won the D.G.A. and duPont-Columbia awards for “Best Documentary.”