by Oleksandra Volakova

Porcelain War, a multiple award-winning documentary and a 97th Academy Awards nominee for Best Documentary Feature, brings a unique perspective on the brutal Russian-Ukrainian war, now in its 11th year, featuring artists as part of the resistance. The film focuses on Ukrainian civilians who, upon the full-scale war outbreak on February 24, 2022, made the decision to pause making art – the very meaning of their lives – to protect their country and its people from being brutally killed by Russian invaders, artillery, missiles, and drones. They willingly went from popularizing Ukrainian art and painting delicate porcelain figures to defending it from being forcefully erased by the aggressors.

Porcelain War shows the lives of artists whose hands, once used for crafting fragile art pieces, had to take up weapons to defend their right to exist. The movie shows how war is affecting every single aspect of life, and no one can be protected from it. The destruction and chaos do not stop the artists from continuing to create and resist aggression, document atrocities, preserve memories of once-beloved places, tell their stories without words, and emotionally survive. This documentary captures what is happening right now in Ukraine, where ordinary people – including artists, writers, musicians, and teachers – give up their dreams and desires to protect their loved ones. When they erase those people, they erase Ukraine.

The movie screening will happen on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 8 PM in the Basinger Center for Film Studies (301 Washington Terrace, Middletown, CT 06459). The movie screening is facilitated by The College of Film and the Moving Image (CFILM) and co-sponsored by Razom for Ukraine, Ukrainian Cultural Club Volya, Dance Department, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, College of the Environment, and Fries Center for Global Studies. Porcelain War is more than just a documentary – it is an urge to witness, to remember, and to support those who protect Ukraine not only with weapons but with their voices. This film reveals the power of art in war—how it resists destruction and saves lives.

“Ukraine is like porcelain: easy to break but impossible to destroy.”