Porcelain War - Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev

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 choose to stay behind, 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, and 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.

This film won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, Grand Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Student Academy Award winner Brendan Bellomo worked on Beasts of the Southern Wild and Chupa. He directs with Slava Leontyev, a Ukrainian artist and porcelain sculptor, and former Special Forces soldier.

This film screening is brought to you in the context of the Festival of the New European Bauhaus 2026.