Sundance 2024: 'Porcelain War' is a testament to the resiliency of the people of Ukraine

PARK CITY, Utah (KUTV) — Porcelain War
4 out of 5 Stars
Directors:Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Writer: Aniela Sidorska, Paula Dupre Pesmen, Brendan Bellomo
Category:U.S. Documentary Competition
Genre: Documentary, War
Tickets, Online Screenings: Click Here

Festival Synopsis: Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it’s easy to make people afraid, it’s hard to destroy their passion for living.

Review: Last year’s “20 Days in Mariupol” dropped audiences into the middle of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was a relentless descent into chaos. “Porcelain War” takes us back to Ukraine for something different.

The war rages on and life in its shadow continues.

Artists Slava and Anya continue to make delicate, porcelain figures painted with imaginative, designs. There is something whimsical, otherworldly in the art (and the touch of magical realism is perfect). It stands in stark contrast to the rubble that surrounds them.

Still, there is nothing normal about their day-to-day lives. Slava regularly takes up arms to defend his city, trains others how to use machine guns, and whatever else it might take to make a safer world for his daughters to come home to.

But will there be a home for them to return to?

I don’t know the right words to describe Andrey, Slava and Anya’s determination to survive. "Resiliency” isn’t strong enough, but it will have to do.

Like “20 Days in Mariupol,” “Porcelain War” needs to be seen. It is far too easy to dehumanize strangers. After watching the film, Andrey, Slava and Anya will be strangers no more.