This year, KVIFF presents four films dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: Real, Voyage Along the War, The Invasion and Porcelain War.
Porcelain War, which received the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, was presented at KVIFF by director Brendan Bellomo. “The film gave Ukrainians a unique opportunity to tell their stories from the inside, sharing what they see through their own eyes,” he said. The fil follows three ordinary people — Anya, Slava, and Andrei — who are not only connected by the events of the war but also by their deep friendship and shared love for art. They document their experiences alone, without the director’s presence, despite having no prior experience with filming. “Thanks to their artistic intuition, they immediately learned how to shoot. Slava shared that they were only able to pick up the cameras because someone else took up arms to defend their country,” Bellomo said, revealing that he didn’t meet the protagonists until 18 months after filming began, at the Sundance premiere. “We would communicate through sketches, storyboard images or sculptures, developing an artistic language of our own,” he shared enthusiastically.
The civilian perspective in the documentary sharply contrasts the authentic footage of the special military unit composed of civilians, in which one of the protagonists serves and which was also deployed in the fighting in Bakhmut. “We screened the film for members of the US Congress and senators. Slava was able to debate and engage with them before the eighth aid package for Ukraine was approved,” the American director proudly recounted.
