The documentary film "Porcelain War" by American Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian Slava Leontiev won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
The festival concluded on January 28 in Park City, USA, with awards given to films such as "In The Summers" in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, "Porcelain War" in the U.S. Documentary Competition, "A New Kind of Wilderness" in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, and "Sujo" in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
The Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Film category was awarded to the film "Porcelain War," a co-production between the U.S. and Ukraine. The directors are American Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian Slava Leontiev, with Bellomo also writing the documentary's screenplay.
"Porcelain War" tells the story of Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andriy, who decide to stay and fight Russian invaders amidst the roar of fighter jets and missile strikes. Fearlessly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that while it's easy to make someone afraid, it's hard to destroy their thirst for life.
Jury citation: "Resisting totalitarian aggression is necessary but holding on to your humanity amidst the onslaught is the ultimate pursuit of good. The making of this film – a film full of pathos and violence, porcini and dragonlets – is in and of itself this pursuit. For its unwavering voice from inside the brutal war in Ukraine calling us to care about those who would sacrifice their lives to defend their humanity and ours, and since at present there is no Sundance Jury Award for best dog, the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary goes to Porcelain War."
This marks the seventh Ukrainian film presented at the Sundance Film Festival since Ukraine's first participation in 2020.