Ukrainian-American film about artists at war wins Grand Prix at Sundance Film Festival

The official website of the event reported the information.

On January 28, the Sundance National American Independent Film Festival ended in Park City, USA. The main jury prizes were awarded to the films In The Summers in the US drama competition, Porcelain War in the US documentary competition, A New Kind of Wilderness in the World Cinema documentary competition, and Sujo in the World Cinema drama competition.

The US Jury Grand Prix in the Documentary category went to Porcelain War, a co-production between the US and Ukraine. The film was directed by American Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian Slava Leontyev. Bellomo also wrote the script for the documentary.

According to the film's description, Porcelain War tells the story of Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya and Andriy, who decide to stay and fight the Russian invaders amidst the roar of fighter jets and missile attacks. By defiantly finding beauty in the midst of destruction, they show that while it is easy to make people afraid, it is difficult to destroy their lust for life. 

"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 US Grand Jury Prize: Documentary goes to Porcelain War," the jury said in announcing the winner.

This is the seventh film made in Ukraine to be presented at Sundance since Ukraine's first participation in 2020.