“The human spirit is able to be creative even when it seems that all hope is lost.”
Palo Alto High School alum Brendan Bellomo’s award-winning documentary, shortlisted for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, opens to Bay Area audiences this Friday.
The film titled “Porcelain War” was awarded the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize earlier last year.
Bellomo, who graduated from Paly in 2003, told The Paly Voice that the documentary features Ukrainian artists who chose to stay behind after Russia’s invasion in 2022 to continue making art.
“They trained themselves as civilian soldiers and taught themselves how to use cameras to record their experiences during the war,” Bellomo said. “The film really focuses on creativity, hope and the ability of the human spirit to persevere even in the darkest of times.”
This was Bellomo’s first documentary, having only done narrative work previously. According to Bellomo, his newfound experience brought rich stories to life.
“I always felt you go out and you find a story, something to adapt into a feature film or you write a script — you create something,” Bellomo said. “But I realized in ‘Porcelain War’ that stories find you, and you need only to be prepared to learn whatever is necessary to tell that story.”
According to Bellomo, the universal message of the film is one that anyone should be able to relate to.
“Although it tells a story that occurs within the borders of Ukraine, [this film] is about all of us,” Bellomo said. “It’s about what we’re capable of as people. Even if you don’t believe you’re capable of something, you rise to the occasion.”
Bellomo said that the team for the film sprung from previous connections.
“One of our producers, Aniela Sidorska, grew up under Russian oppression in communist Poland and became a political refugee when her parents escaped to the United States about eight years ago,” Bellomo said. “She discovered Anya and Slava’s figurines and was truly moved by them because they really reminded her of the home that she shared with them.”
According to Bellomo, the porcelain figurines featured in the film contain stories of the artists’ lives that are deeply personal.
“I had never seen anything like this,” Bellomo said. “I couldn’t believe that something so small could have such a huge narrative contained on its surface.”
Bellomo and the film’s other producers began working on a separate animation project together until the Russian invasion.
“I called up Slava, my co-director and participant in the film, and asked him if he was okay and when he was leaving,” Bellomo said. “He told me ‘we’re gonna keep making art at night.’ I asked him what he was doing during the day. He revealed, ‘I’m in the Ukrainian special forces and I’m training civilians every day, peaceful people to fight back.’”
Bellomo said he and his producers viewed the creation of the film as something empowering, not necessarily aimed at winning awards.
“We’re so focused … our whole team on truly empowering everyone who’s participated in the film and who’s been brave enough to tell their story,” Bellomo said. “They are artists; they’re everyday people in this war, and so it was really truly about giving them a voice.”
Bellomo said that the significance of the war supports the necessity of the message since culture is a big part of Ukraine’s fight.
“Culture is a primary target for Russia,” Bellomo said. “To continue creating art, Anya and Slava feel that it is part of their duty not only to tell their stories, but to replace whatever they can. Nothing can be brought back, but new work can be created.”
As a former Paly student, Bellomo said he would give three main pieces of advice to aspiring artists in the Paly community.
“First and foremost, join a communal art form to find people who you can collaborate with,” Bellomo said. “Being able to communicate your specific perspective very clearly is absolutely key. Second, truly understand what you personally can bring. You must live life and reflect on it in order to produce art. Thirdly, really articulate what you don’t know and know. If you can define it really well, then you can easily collaborate with other people by saying, ‘Here’s what I bring to the table, but this is what I’m looking for,’ and then you can begin to make a film.”
According to Bellomo, he believes that this film is something that everyone at Paly should watch, since unlike many other media portrayals of Ukraine, “Porcelain War” focuses on creativity.
“I believe that this is a film that everyone needs to see because it will allow you to understand what’s happening in Ukraine from a very different perspective,” Bellomo said. “Only by witnessing multiple points of view, can we truly understand what’s happening in the world.”
Showings of “Porcelain War” are available at AMC Metreon 16 in downtown San Francisco and Smith Rafael in downtown San Rafael. Other information about screening details is on the Porcelain War’s website.
