The Ukrainian film Porcelain War has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category. Today, the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles.
The documentary Porcelain War, directed by American Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian Slava Leontiev—who is also one of the main protagonists of the film—has received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars.
Porcelain War tells the story of Kharkiv during the early days of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It focuses on the lives of three Kharkiv residents, artists who choose to stay in the city despite the intense offensive by russian occupiers. Since the beginning of the invasion, the main protagonist and co-director, Slava Leontiev, has been training Ukrainian soldiers while dedicating his free time to art. Together with his wife, Anіa Stasenko, he creates porcelain figurines—owls, little dragons, and other animals—while Anіa paints them. These figurines are used to adorn buildings destroyed by russian missiles.
"Ukraine is like porcelain: easy to break but impossible to destroy", - resonates in the conclusion of the documentary Porcelain War.
At the Sundance Independent Film Festival in 2024, Porcelain War won the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary competition. As of mid-January 2025, the film has garnered 45 awards and 31 nominations at international film festivals and competitions, including a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award.