A beautiful film showcasing the power of art, Porcelain War (now in theatres), directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, follows three artists amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Defending their culture, Leontyev, a ceramicist and a member of Ukraine’s special forces, appears in the film, along with partner Anya Stasenko, and their friend and painter Andrey Stefanov, filming their story of resistance while creating exquisite figurines of art representing the past, while becoming depictions of hope for the future.
As Bellomo explained, he connected with Leontyev before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, with one of the film’s producers, who grew up un Poland, becoming a political refugee and travelling with her family to the U.S. About eight years ago the producer found Leontyev work and, as Bellomo shared, it reminded her of home, sharing them with the film’s co-director.
“We actually began work on an animation project, and then Russia invaded, so of course I called up Slava and I said, ‘Are you guys all right? When are you leaving?’ And he said, ‘We’re going to stay and we’re going to keep making our art at night,'” Bellomo told Yahoo Canada. “He told me, really for the first time, I had no idea that he was in the Ukrainian special forces and that he was training civilians to fight, and this was such a unique moment, because we started discussing what was going on, and he was telling me, what’s happening here is not what you’re seeing in the news. There’s really something different.”
“So we wanted to empower him to tell the story and so we decided, OK we need to send a camera, but there’s no way to just ship something into a war zone. So we met this amazing group of volunteers in the United States, and they were moving medical supplies and military aid, and it was a hairdresser in New Jersey who, … at one time she would carry 50 bags of medical supplies, and she said, I’ll carry the camera.”
Owl in wall in Porcelain War (Andrey Stefanov/The Artist Project Inc.)
‘This is the human side of what’s happening’
But when the camera arrived there was still the challenge of a language barrier and significant distance. Connecting through Zoom and with an interpreter, as Bellomo described, an “impromptu film school” was created to teach Leontyev and the film’s [director of photographer], Andrey Stefanov, how to use a camera.
“We figured out that they could translate their artistic instincts into cinema and capture their experience as artists in this war,” Bellomo said.
“We were very, very careful with footage and material so that their locations wouldn’t be disclosed, and so we were very mindful of their safety and also their trust in us,” writer and producer, Paula DuPré Pesmen, added. “They really trusted us to send us the footage and to shoot very intimate, personal times of what they were experiencing, and what we were seeing is something we had never seen before in a film.”
“We had seen news footage and we had seen war footage, but we hadn’t seen this beautiful resilience that they have of living in war, instead of cowering somewhere and hiding they continue to live. And we were so inspired by that, and so moved and started sending more equipment and things that they could use to help them, and then Slava’s whole unit got involved and became part of the filming crew as well. And it was just a really incredible once in a lifetime experience to get to know people like them and to empower them to tell their own story from their perspective, and bring people a new view of this war, which is humanity. This is the human side of what’s happening.”
“Porcelain War” Slava and Anya sketch (Andrey Stefanov/The Artist Project Inc.)
‘He was filming each thing as if it might be the last day of his life’
In terms of finding a great balance in the film between the art and the footage being captured depicting what they’re lives look like amid Russia’s invasion, including an animation element, the filmmakers leaned in the natural juxtaposition of war and beauty.
“A lot of times in films you cut away to animation and you leave the world you’re in, and that was really important that we don’t leave Ukraine and we don’t leave their world,” Pesmen said. “So we worked with an animation company, BluBlu Studios in Poland, and they studied 20 years of Anya’s work, and then they had all these photos, and then they hand drew 7,000 frames of art that was a part of the animation.”
“As the most peaceful, creative people, their inclination is to go into the forest and study nature, be inspired by it and bring this into their work,” Bellomo added. “And so one day they would be filming a caterpillar on a leaf at sunset, and then the next they would be encountering a minefield, and Slava would be de-mining it so that they could even film, and the next day they would be on a mission, or there would be shelling and the power would be knocked out, and the water would be knocked out, and the heat would go out.”
“This kind of rhythm of the edit was very much guided by the footage that they were shooting, which would oscillate between these things and create this contrast. And at the same time, since this is a war zone, everything is completely unpredictable. Slava says he was filming each thing as if it might be the last day of his life, to even be able to record his culture, his beautiful world, his beautiful home and his friends and his family.”
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA – 2024/11/25: On Screen, Via Zoom (L to R) Slava Leontyev and Anya Stasenko. On Stage (L to R) Co-director/co-writer Brendan Bellomo, and Co-writer/producer Paula DuPré Pesman, during Q and A at the Toronto special screening of “Porcelain War” at TIFF Lightbox. Amid the devastation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, three artistsSlava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanovdefiantly wield their art, cameras, and newfound weapons to defend their culture and country. Co-directed by Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, Porcelain War captures their extraordinary resilience, with Stefanov’s firsthand cinematography documenting their journey of resistance, creativity, and hope amidst chaos. (Photo by Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
‘Preserving Ukrainian art is so critical’
In going through this process, taking the risk of actually capturing this footage, Pesmen stressed that there was a “sense of responsibility” to share this story with the world.
“For all the people who are citizens and are fighting, they all want to go back to their lives. They’re peaceful people. They want to just live their lives and they don’t have the choice,” Pesmen said. “I think it was remarkable that they find the beauty in everything, like Slava says, every butterfly, every flower, every person that we filmed could not be here.”
“This is a genocidal war. People are being attacked, civilians and citizens are being attacked in their home. … I think finding those moments in life that are so precious, and being in the moment is something that they actually really do well, because they know this moment is precious.”
Another core component is trying to push against the erasure of the beautiful creativity of Ukrainian artists.
“Russia specifically attacked museums and universities, and targeted artists and writers and teachers, the people that contribute to culture, and Slava and Anya … say there’s no way to bring them back,” Bellomo said. “Their work is lost and they are lost, and even the parents of future artists are lost. So preserving Ukrainian art is so critical.”
“One of the things in the film that we’re so proud of is the entire score is from DakhaBrakha, an amazing Ukrainian band that really embodies the ethos of their spirit. And this became the heartbeat of the film. And so their art is included, and Anya and Slava, their artistic process and their new work is so much the subject of the film. But as Slava says, even the film itself is a cultural artifact. It is a new piece of work. It is an active resistance, and it is a creative endeavour.”