It is one of the sad ironies of war that even as it lays waste to countries, conflict on that scale can lead to great works of cinema. The brutal civil war in Syria resulted in several Oscar-nominated documentary features – Last Men in Aleppo and The Cave, both directed by Feras Fayyad; Of Fathers […]It is one of the sad ironies of war that even as it lays waste to countries, conflict on that scale can lead to great works of cinema. The brutal civil war in Syria resulted in several Oscar-nominated documentary features – Last Men in Aleppo and The Cave, both directed by Feras Fayyad; Of Fathers
It is one of the sad ironies of war that even as it lays waste to countries, conflict on that scale can lead to great works of cinema.
The brutal civil war in Syria resulted in several Oscar-nominated documentary features – Last Men in Aleppo and The Cave, both directed by Feras Fayyad; Of Fathers and Sons, directed by Talal Derki; and For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts.
The war in Ukraine, too, is being documented powerfully by nonfiction filmmakers: the Oscar-shortlisted In the Rearview, directed by Maciek Hamela; the Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov; and now the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Porcelain War.
On the new edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, Porcelain War directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev discuss their film, which won the DGA Award on February 8 and is being honored with a screening at The Hague on Thursday before an audience of diplomats. The filmmakers explain how they made a documentary hailed as a masterpiece despite never having directed a film before, and with a cinematographer who had never shot a film before.
Watch on Deadline
Porcelain War revolves around Leontyev and his wife, Anya Stasenko, artists who collaborate on stunning figures made of porcelain. Slava sculpts the artworks, while Anya dedicates herself to painting the owls, “dragonlets” and other creatures with intricate designs. Bellomo shares the story of how Slava and his future wife Anya met (it involved her pushing him around in a baby carriage).
Like so many Ukrainians, Leontyev has become a citizen soldier in defense of his country, training members of his military unit in the proper use of weapons. In his spare time, he continues to pursue his art, which Leontyev describes as a form of resistance to Russian aggression.
That’s on the latest episode of Doc Talk, co-hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s documentary editor. Doc Talk is produced by Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studio.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.
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