- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
"Ukraine is like porcelain.
Easy to break, but impossible to destroy."
Those are the words of one of the characters
in tonight's documentary,
the Oscar-nominated Porcelain War.
The film tells the story of three artists
who refused to leave their homeland
after the Russian invasion in 2022,
deciding instead to stay in Ukraine
and continue to create art while also fighting as soldiers.
In Porcelain War, we get a firsthand look
at how Ukrainians deal with life during the Russian occupation.
Slava Leontyev, Anya, and Andrei provide boots on the ground
when it comes to defending Ukraine as trained soldiers,
and in showing viewers the beauty of art and its importance
during very dark times.
Slava and his fellow artist-soldiers are portrayed
as ordinary people in an extraordinary situation
as they defend their country and culture.
Andrei is an oil painter
who learns quickly how to become a director of photography.
Slava and Anya continue to resist
by painting images on little porcelain figurines
that encapsulate their homeland's story of its past
and unpredictable future.
Slava is a remarkable character
in that he is a special forces soldier
who trains ordinary citizens how to use machine guns
during the day, paints his figurines at night,
and somehow manages to co-direct this film.
He says he makes an even bigger impact
picking up a camera and telling a story for the world
or his fellow Ukrainians to see than picking up a gun.
Sharing the director's chair with Slava is Brendan Bellomo.
Bellomo knew of Slava and Anya through their art,
which he admired for years.
After the Russian invasion,
he contacted them about documenting the experience.
Bellomo and Leontyev directed the film
while being 6,000 miles apart.
Bellomo had the film knowledge
and shared it with them over Zoom from his Los Angeles home,
instructing them on how to use the equipment he shipped.
Despite their distance,
the directors proved to be a cohesive team.
They used GoPro cameras and aerial drones,
and utilized hand-drawn CGI animation to tell their story.
Contrasting graphic footage from the front lines
with creativity and hypnotic scenes of painting
proves to be a captivating cinematic experience
for viewers.
Maybe the most interesting fun fact
about this entire production
is that directors didn't even meet in person
until their Oscar-nominated effort premiered at Sundance,
where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
Let's all enjoy this film that the Toronto Star calls
"A powerful testament
to the resilience of the artistic spirit."
Porcelain War starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.