‘POV’ Frames Resistance Through Art as Ukrainian Artists Turn Clay and Cameras Into Acts of Defiance in Porcelain War
Overview
Premieres Monday, September 29, 2025 at 10pm on PBS Television; Streaming Available on PBS App Until December 28, 2025
Trailer • Download Press Photos • #PorcelainWarPBS
Brooklyn, N.Y. – August 21, 2025 – POV, the multi-Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning documentary series, presents Porcelain War, a visceral and deeply personal film that follows three Ukrainian artists as they choose to fight back against Russia with hand-molded porcelain creatures and handheld cameras. The film is by first-time feature co-directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, a Ukrainian sculptor turned filmmaker, and produced by Aniela Sidorska p.g.a., Paula DuPré Pesmen p.g.a., Camilla Mazzaferro, and Olivia Ahnemann. Razom for Ukraine is an official partner of the film.
Porcelain War will make its national broadcast premiere on POV on Monday, September 29, 2025 at 10pm (check local listings) on PBS Television, and will be available to stream until December 28, 2025 on pbs.org, and the PBS App. Now in its 38th season, POV continues to serve as America's longest-running independent nonfiction series.
Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature and winner of the Grand Jury U.S. Documentary Award at the Sundance Film Festival (2024), Porcelain War brings to the front lines the transformative power of art. Set against the brutal backdrop of war-torn Ukraine, the film follows artists Slava Leontyev, his wife Anya Stasenko, and their collaborator Andrey Stefanov— ceramicists whose meticulously detailed porcelain creatures stand in haunting contrast to the chaos and destruction around them.
In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, the trio makes the radical decision to stay behind in their home city of Kharkiv. Armed with cameras, clay, and for the first time in their lives, guns, they confront violence not only with force, but with creativity. As daily shelling becomes the norm, Anya clings to her art as a form of resistance and refuge. Slava, a former art teacher, becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely citizen soldiers. Andrey embarks on a perilous mission to get his young family to safety, then returns to document the surreal new reality that has engulfed his homeland. As the war intensifies, on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and the hope for a future rebuilt.
In Porcelain War, co-directors Bellomo and Leontyev blend animation, hand-painted art, and cinéma vérité footage to chronicle lives under siege and capture the spirit of artists determined to live and create on their own terms.
“I am deeply honored to be a part of making this documentary. We all have a role to play in defending democracy, and our freedom of artistic expression is integral to that preservation,” said Brendan Bellomo, co-director, Porcelain War. “During this unique process of international collaborative filmmaking, I learned that no barrier can stop our artistic spirit and its ability to connect us all, even when separated by thousands of miles, language barriers, and an active war zone. When experiencing [the film] Porcelain War, I would like audiences to walk away with a new perspective on not just the conflict in Ukraine, but the beauty and resilience of the human spirit. Brave, everyday people can make a difference in preserving their culture, and the stories we tell - both in art and in cinema - play a vital role. They are not ornamental, but necessary and powerful. We are thrilled to partner with POV in sharing this incredible story with audiences. Public television is more important now than ever - it is somewhere all of us can seek out new perspectives, inform our viewpoints, and find common ground. POV is a place to find those very types of vital, groundbreaking, and diverse stories.”
Slava Leontyev, co-director and participant in Porcelain War added: “The participants of Porcelain War are not only defending Ukraine, they are defending the world and democracy against dictatorship. They gave me a unique opportunity to show how these historical events are happening now. It is important for me to share this experience with people everywhere, because anyone can face similar challenges if freedom doesn’t win.”
Anya Stasenko, Porcelain War participant, said: “My friends are defending the life of our country. Our art is a part of this life, a part of the culture of Ukraine, and we have a responsibility to make this part as beautiful as we can. In the most terrible moments of this war, I want to give people a reason to smile once in a while. It is what will keep us hopeful and what will keep our culture alive.”
“Directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s Porcelain War reveals the sobering reality many face as they try to live their lives amid Russia’s war on Ukraine; a war that continues to devastate their home and reverberate across the world,” said Erika Dilday, Executive Director, American Documentary and Executive Producer of POV and America ReFramed. “Their moving portrait of artists – Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov, who create and place delicate porcelain figurines throughout war-torn landscapes, reflects the enduring strength of their culture in a world that too often sees their country only through the lens of conflict.”
Porcelain War made its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary Award. In 2025, it was nominated for an Academy Award® in the “Best Documentary Feature” category and won the D.G.A. and duPont-Columbia awards for “Best Documentary.”
Porcelain War directors are Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. The producers are Aniela Sidorska, p.g.a., Paula DuPré Pesmen, p.g.a., Camilla Mazzaferro, and Olivia Ahnemann. The screenwriters are Aniela Sidorska, Brendan Bellomo, Paula DuPré Pesmen, and Slava Leontyev. The cinematographer is Andrey Stefanov, and the editors are Brendan Bellomo, Aniela Sidorska, and Kelly Cameron. Music is by DakhaBrakha. Animation is by BluBlu Studios.
The executive producers are Al Hicks, Luke Mazzaferro, Rob Galluzo, Linda A. Cornfield, David J. Cornfield, Howard G. Buffett, Sheri Sobrato, Jeffrey Sobrato, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, Andrea Cayton, Garrett Cayton, Ginny Jordan, Georgia Welles, Amy Carpenter, Steve Carpenter, James Balog, Robina Riccitiello, Josh Peters, Michael Anders, Karl Kister, Joe Barnathan, Kevin Marciano, John Schmidt, and Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary.
Raves include:
“Porcelain War is a searing, singular vision of life and art on the edge of annihilation... an extraordinary testament to the role of creativity as resistance.”
— Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter
“A wildly original and visually stunning war documentary... Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring.”
— Addie Morfoot, Variety
“Art as survival, art as protest, art as memory — Porcelain War is a cinematic punch to the heart.”
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Explodes the conventions of the war doc… A haunting, hand-crafted love letter to Ukraine.”
— Kate Erbland, Indiewire
Photos
Credits
Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Producers: Aniela Sidorska p.g.a., Paula DuPré Pesmen p.g.a., Camilla Mazzaferro, Olivia Ahnemann
Participants/Cast: Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, Andrey Stefanov, Frodo the Dog
Executive Producers: Al Hicks, Luke Mazzaferro, Rob Galluzo, Linda A. Cornfield, David J. Cornfield, Howard G. Buffett, Sheri Sobrato, Jeffrey Sobrato, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, Andrea Cayton, Garrett Cayton, Ginny Jordan, Georgia Welles, Amy Carpenter, Steve Carpenter, James Balog, Robina Riccitiello, Josh Peters, Michael Anders, Karl Kister, Joe Barnathan, Kevin Marciano, John Schmidt, and Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary
Screenwriters: Aniela Sidorska, Brendan Bellomo, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Slava Leontyev
Cinematographer: Andrey Stefanov
Editors: Brendan Bellomo, Aniela Sidorska, Kelly Cameron
Music: DakhaBrakha
Animation: BluBlu Studios
Country: Ukraine
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, English
Year: 2024
About the Filmmakers
Brendan Bellomo, Director, Writer, Editor, Porcelain War
Brendan Bellomo is an Oscar®-nominated and Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning director. Recipient of the 2009 Student Academy Award® for Live Action Narrative, Bellomo’s passion for storytelling was first sparked when he was a child. Beginning his career in visual effects, he supervised the 2012 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar®-nominee for Best Picture Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight). Most recently, Bellomo was the executive producer on the Netflix Original Chupa. Bellomo worked closely with Annie Leibovitz on the global exhibit “Women: New Portraits” and designed the curriculum for the first visual effects course at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, which led him on the path to eventually pair with his directing partner, Slava Leontyev. He is the 2025 recipient of the Directors Guild of America Award as well as the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.
Slava Leontyev, Director, Participant, Porcelain War
Slava Leontyev is a first-time director born into a family of biologists in Ukraine. Merging his love of nature and art, Leontyev has spent his life studying painting, photography, graphic design, and art theory. Alongside his wife and longtime collaborator Anya Stasenko, Leontyev now creates the porcelain sculptures featured in Porcelain War. He is also a former soldier of the Ukrainian Special Forces and a highly regarded weapons instructor for civilians who are currently defending their country against Russian aggression.
Andrey Stefanov, Cinematographer, Participant, Porcelain War
Andrey Stefanov was born in Feodosia, a town in Crimea, Ukraine, and received his artistic education in Kharkiv. He then returned to his home in Crimea, where he became an artisan winemaker and a recognized oil painter. For many years, Stefanov created fine art photography, landscape paintings, and still lifes. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Stefanov and his friend Slava Leontyev decided to pick up film cameras, discovering a new medium to express their artistic perspectives. Porcelain War is Stefanov’s first feature credit as a cinematographer.
Anya Stasenko, Associate Producer, Participant, Porcelain War
Anya Stasenko is a ceramics artist and experienced nature photographer who has been deeply engaged in the fine arts since her early childhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine. As such, Stasenko’s paintings have become her lifelong language. While studying at the Kharkiv School of Arts and Academy of Design and Arts, she developed a unique style of painting on ceramic miniatures. This is also where she began to collaborate with Slava Leontyev, now her husband. Together, they create the widely recognized tiny porcelain figurines featured in Porcelain War.
Aniela Sidorska, Producer, Writer, Editor, Porcelain War
Aniela Sidorska is an Academy Award®-nominated producer and writer of the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner Porcelain War. Aniela began her career in San Francisco as a visual effects compositing supervisor on the 2012 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar® nominee for Best Picture, Beasts of the Southern Wild. Her other work includes Captain America: The First Avenger, Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Expendables 3, Boardwalk Empire (HBO), The Blacklist (NBC), The Americans (FX), Elementary (CBS), as well as creature design for Chupa (Netflix Original) and Executive Producer for Whistle, premiering at Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a 2025 PGA Award nominee, and a winner of the 2025 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.
Paula DuPré Pesmen, Producer, Writer, Porcelain War
Paula DuPré Pesmen is an Oscar®-nominated, Emmy® Award, and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer. Pesmen produced the Sundance Grand Jury Prize US Documentary winner and Oscar-nominated film Porcelain War and the Oscar-winning feature documentary The Cove. In 2010, she was named Producer of the Year by the PGA. Pesmen launched her film career as an Associate Producer on the producing teams of such narrative features as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Rent, Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone 2, and Stepmom. She produced the renowned documentary features Chasing Ice (Emmy® winner, Sundance Cinematography Award, SXSW Audience Award), Keep on Keepin’ On (Audience Award winner at Tribeca and Palm Springs film festivals), and Quincy (GRAMMY® winner). For her philanthropic work, Pesmen was named a “Local Hero” by Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine.
Camilla Mazzaferro, Producer, Porcelain War
Camilla Mazzaferro began her career at PWC and RadicalMedia, producing a number of award-winning commercial campaigns, music videos and short films. Most recently, she produced feature documentaries My Sister Liv (2022 Karlovy Vary and DOCNYC), A Fire Inside (2021 Sydney Film Festival), Machine (2019 Melbourne International Film Festival), and the Netflix Original Chef’s Table. Other projects include Homebodies (SXSW 2016), Ian Thorpe: The Swimmer, and Girls Can’t Surf (2021 Tribeca Film Festival).
Olivia Ahnemann, Producer, Porcelain War
Olivia Ahnemann has been producing award-winning documentary films for over 20 years. She produced 2020’s Youth v Gov (DOCNYC, Jackson Wild Grand Teton Award), which was released globally on Netflix; 2018’s The Human Element, featuring photographer James Balog (San Francisco International Film Festival, SCAD Savannah Film Festival’s Best Feature Documentary Award); Stephanie Soechtig’s Under the Gun (2016 Sundance Film Festival), which was distributed by Epix/Lionsgate; and Louie Psihoyos’ Racing Extinction (2015 Sundance Film Festival), which was distributed by Discovery. In 2016, Ahnemann was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. She co-produced the Oscar®-winning feature documentary The Cove, which garnered over 70 awards globally, including the PGA’s Best Documentary Award.
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