Press Play with Madeline Brand
Written by Amy Ta, produced by Brian Hardzinski For nearly three years now, Russia’s war in Ukraine has completely upended the existence of those who chose to stay. Porcelain War is a new documentary that vividly portrays the lives of civilians-turned-soldiers on and off the battlefield. It centers on Slava Leontyev, a Ukrainian artist-turned-Special Forces weapons instructor […]
77th Annual DGA Awards Winners – “Porcelain War Wins Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
How Ukrainian Artists Channeled Their Creativity Into Documenting War
By Steve Dollar Art mobilizes against bullets, bombs and tanks in “Porcelain War,” a documentary about how beauty not only persists amid the wreckage of warfare but serves as a necessary existential weapon of its own. The film, which won the U.S. grand jury prize for documentary at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, is competing for an […]
The Crazy Story on How the ‘Porcelain War’ Co-Directors Made a Doc 6,000 Miles Apart
By Brendan Bellomo From the start, Slava Leontyev and I, as co-directors of the documentary feature Porcelain War, realized that we had a problem. Actually, a few. Big ones. To begin with, there was this: Slava is a porcelain artist turned Special Forces soldier in Ukraine, I am a VFX supervisor in the U.S., and […]
Industry insiders share insights on Sundance, independent film
Bob Berney of Picturehouse Films, Richard Lorber of Kino Lorber Media Group and John Sloss of Cinetic Media share insights into the challenges and successes in the independent film industry, focusing on the Sundance-nominated films they represent. Topics include the impact of awards on film visibility, the evolving market for documentaries, the sustainability of […]
Oscars: Ukraine’s ‘Porcelain War’ Nabs Best Documentary Feature Nomination
By Etan Vlessing The Ukrainian film Porcelain War, about artists defiantly at work during a time of war, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the best feature documentary category for the 2025 Oscars. Directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s documentary achieves a disturbing intimacy with beauty as it follows the artists Anya Stasenko and co-director Leontyev in Kharkiv, near to […]
‘Porcelain War’ Nominated For Best Documentary Feature Film
By Mike Fleming Jr, Patrick Hipes Nominations for the 97th Oscars were revealed Thursday morning and the major takeaway is this heralds the most wide-open awards race we have witnessed in years. A far cry from last year when Oppenheimer expectedly dominated the proceedings, this time the race for Best Picture features a class of wildly different, audaciously ambitious films. Emilia Pérez, […]
Oscar Nominees for Documentary Are International and Political
by Pat Mullen Ten documentaries are now Oscar nominees. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 97th annual Academy Awards this morning. Actors Bowen Yang (Wicked) and Rachel Sennott (Saturday Night) unveiled the contenders, including the nominees for short and feature documentary. The nominees include the acclaimed Sugarcane by Julian Brave […]
ASC Awards Nominations: ‘Wicked,’ ‘Dune: Part Two,’ ‘A Complete Unknown’ & More
by Erik Pedersen The American Society of Cinematographers today focused in on the delayed nominations for its 39th annual ASC Awards, which celebrate the year’s best in cinematography in seven categories spanning feature films, TV, documentaries and music videos. See the list below. Vying for the marquee Theatrical Feature Film prize are the DPs behind Nosferatu, Wicked, The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune: Part […]
Directors Guild Reveals TV, Doc & Commercials Noms For 2025 DGA Awards
By Erik Pedersen The Directors Guild of America today revealed the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television, Commercials and Documentary for 2024. See the list below. Winners will be announced at the 77th annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8, at The Beverly Hilton. The DGA will announce its Theatrical Feature Film nominees on […]
