Meet the filmmakers, Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev Co-Directors of PORCELAIN WAR.
Filmmaker Interview Questions:
Tell us your backstory. How and why did you get into filmmaking?
Neither of us had made a documentary film before. We were collaborating on a project
that involved animating the art on Slava and Anya’s porcelain figurines. When Russia
invaded Ukraine in February 2022, we learned that Slava and Anya were staying in
Ukraine, and that Slava had joined the Special Forces and began training civilians how
to use weapons to protect their homes and families.
We decided to start filming what was happening in Ukraine and sent cameras to Slava.
We began an impromptu film school over Zoom learning through the mutual language of
art. Slava and his best friend Andrey (an oil painter) were in Ukraine and were taught
how to use the equipment over Zoom by Brendan who was in Los Angeles. Slava and
Andrey began filming their personal and firsthand experience of living in war and we
worked together to continue to support their storytelling as the filming expanded and
more equipment was sent to them.
How do you know when your story’s finished, when to walk away?
For this movie, there was not a clear ending to their story as the war continued and is
still ongoing. We decided to follow their lives throughout the film between war and
creating art, and ultimately through the battle that they captured with their body and
drone cameras. Anya and Slava made three figurines for the film, each telling their story
of their past, the present in war, and their hope for the future. These also gave the film a
structure to build on.
After Slava’s unit returned from the mission that they were filming, there was a natural
reflective time in the story when they evaluated the danger the unit had faced and the
result of them returning home. At that point, the conversations began with Slava and
Anya about their hope for the future and it felt like the right time to end the filming as it
was where they were at in that moment of their lives.
How many films have you completed? What is your favorite project you have
worked on and why?
For both of us, PORCELAIN WAR is our first documentary. This film was not made with
archival footage or a film told through interviews. It was filmed in real time by real
people living in war. Supporting them all to share their story as they fight to survive and
preserve their culture is vital for them, and something that will stay with us forever.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Our inspiration for making this film came from the bravery of ordinary people who
believe that preserving their culture and unique identity is worth fighting for. Their
strength to learn how to fight, to endure daily shelling of their home cities, loss of loved
ones and colleagues, and to continue to create art as a form of resistance is
extraordinary.
Can you describe the business behind independent filmmaking and how you are
trying to get your film seen?
The film industry has been changing over the past few years. There are not as many
places for documentaries to be seen as there were only a few years ago. Securing a
worldwide streaming service for a documentary is more challenging. Our film was made
to share with audiences, so we decided to pursue film festivals in the United States and
around the world where it can be shown and we can meet with audiences in person to
talk about this war.
We are currently doing a theatrical run in North America and Canada to engage
communities and organizations to have meaningful conversations.
In the new year, we hope to have the film available on a platform to be watched around
the world.
Filmmaker Bios:
BRENDAN BELLOMO (Director, Writer, Editor) was the recipient of a 2009 Student Academy
Award ® for Live Action Narrative. Beginning his career in visual effects, he supervised the 2012 Sundance
Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar ® nominee for Best Picture Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight).
Most recently, Bellomo was the executive producer on the Netflix Original Chupa.
Bellomo worked closely with Annie Leibovitz on the global exhibit “Women: New Portraits” and
designed the curriculum for the first visual effects course at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, which led him
on the path to eventually pair with his directing partner, Slava Leontyev.
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.
Learn more about other filmmakers of the month on our blog!