(a) Picturehouse
Annual Theme – curated by the Association for Ukrainian Language and Culture in Münster
The film follows Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya and Andrey as they remain in the midst of the war, fighting on and finding beauty amidst the chaos – a moving portrait of courage, creativity and resilience.
Slava Leontyev and Anya Stasenko are partners both in their private lives and in their professional lives. The artist couple create porcelain objects. He models the figures, often in the form of snails, reptiles or owls, whilst she paints their white surfaces in a whimsical style. They live in Crimea, surrounded by artists and friends.
Her long-time friend Andrey Stefanov, a painter who turned to photography during the war, is thinking of his wife and daughters, who fled to Lithuania after the war began.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they left Crimea and, together with their terrier Frodo, made their way to Kharkiv, a city just 40 kilometres from the Russian border. There, Slava and Anya continued their art, placing their porcelain figures amidst the rubble. Slava, a former soldier in the Ukrainian special forces, also works as a weapons instructor for a military unit made up of civilians.
The world premiere of *Porcelain War* took place in January 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition. *Porcelain War* was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards.
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