I especially appreciated what directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyevclearly wanted to emphasize, which is the porcelain figure artwork on display, matching that with the wrecked Ukrainian landscapes, and having it all set to music by DakhaBrakha.

| Feb 27, 2025

Porcelain War represents a praiseworthy defense of art and culture against external threats. It is not only a recognition of porcelain, painting or music, but also of film, as a record and testimony of the resistance of a people. [Full review in Spanish]

| Feb 26, 2025

Porcelain War shows unique perspectives of Ukrainian artists who make porcelain figurines while living with the horrors of Ukraine's war against Russia. This documentary is a candid and worthy look at determination and hope during war and other turmoil.

| Feb 18, 2025

The result makes Porcelain War one of the more gentle if powerful looks at a nation at a precipice, illustrating the sacrifices that must be paid.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 17, 2025

When is art also defiance?

| Original Score: A- | Feb 13, 2025

“Porcelain War” is a testament to how life’s beauty — all the world’s fertility an artist is trained to see — endures among privation and death.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 6, 2025

The film is often subtle about the art it represents, but that’s arguably one of its greatest, most poignant strengths.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 24, 2025

A sharp reminder that wars are fought by armies, but the living and dying is done by people just like us.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 18, 2025

The film is an immediate and gripping look at life during wartime, thanks to remarkable, on-the-ground footage shot by Stefanov, a first-time cinematographer.

| Jan 17, 2025

It's breathtaking.

| Jan 17, 2025

The war footage is quite extraordinary... The structure of the film is a bit ungainly, but under the circumstances it's easy to see why.

| Jan 17, 2025

The camera shows us how art and self-defense come together among artists and their neighbors.

| Jan 6, 2025

Porcelain War can seem a bit twee, particularly when compared to the many more bluntly powerful documentaries about Ukraine the last couple years. But in its second half, the film acquires some power of its own.

| Jan 4, 2025

It’s both a ground-level report of life during wartime, and an urgent manifesto on the power of creation to stand against destruction.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 3, 2025

By sticking to the more feel-good aspects—as feel-good as one can get, given the subject—and refusing to truly grapple with some of the more complex and troubling issues it hints at, it misses the chance to transform into something far more meaningful.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 3, 2025

Backed by a feral, driving score from Ukrainian folkloric quartet DakhaBrakha, “Porcelain War” makes the case for art as another protective weapon against imperialism.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 3, 2025

A sublime and stirring documentary from American filmmaker Brendan Bellomo and Ukrainian ceramicist Slava Leontyev about living, fighting and creating under siege.

| Dec 11, 2024

This film doesn’t flinch from violence, but it finds hope in a people’s patient refusal to surrender who they are.

| Dec 6, 2024

This powerful documentary set amid the war in Ukraine is a rare look at the reality of war and the ordinary people compelled to defend their freedom and their way of life.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 6, 2024

"an artful method to capture the unfolding tragedy without focusing on destruction"

| Dec 4, 2024