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$15 General Admission, $12 Member, $10 child (age 14 or younger)

Doors open for admissions 30 minutes prior to screening. Buy tickets at The Film Center or online now

Q&A afterwards with co-director Slava Leontyev, producer Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, and subject Anya Stasenko! 

Moderated by Iya Labunka

Amidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras, and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art, Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad, and Slava becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely soldiers. As the war intensifies, Andrey picks up his camera to film their story, and on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present, and hope for the future.
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Co-directed by Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, with extraordinary footage from first-time cinematographer Stefanov, Porcelain War is a stunning tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, one which embodies the passion and fight, that only an artist can put back into the world when it’s crumbling around them.
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“A combination of whimsy and devastation…” – The Wall Street Journal
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“Porcelain War masterfully illustrates the enduring power of art in the face of adversity.” – Awards Daily
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“This doc’s depiction of Ukraine war horrors will knock you down.” – The Wrap
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“…a united resistance effort: war balanced by love, bloodshed by beauty.” – Variety
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“A powerful testament to the resilience of the artistic spirit…” – Toronto Star
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SLAVA LEONTYEV (Director, Film Subject) 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 this film. 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.

ANYA STASENKO (Associate Producer, Film Subject) 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 this film.

PAULA DUPRÉ PESMEN (Producer, Writer) is an Emmy Award®- and Grammy Award®- winning producer who produced the Oscar-winning feature documentary The Cove. In 2010, she was named producer of the year by the PGA. Pesmen launched her film career 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.