The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center and the graduate-level film and media program at Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Programs will present the Oscar-nominated documentary Porcelain War has been selected to be screened in the new Stories That Matter film series.
Winner of the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary and the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary, Porcelain War is a firsthand account of the war in Ukraine, told by ordinary people who join the citizen army to fight against the erasure of their country and culture. Amid the chaos of the Russian invasion, three artists use art as a form of resistance against destruction. In a war fought by professional soldiers against civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras, and, for the first time, their guns.
Co-directors Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo and producer Paula DuPré Pesmen will participate in a conversation along with Johns Hopkins experts following the screening of Porcelain War at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., on March 31. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. EST, and the screening beings at 6:15 p.m.; seats can be reserved in advance.
"Porcelain War embodies the mission of the Stories That Matter series by highlighting the important role of artistic expression in fostering public dialogue around challenging issues," said Cybele Bjorklund, executive director of the Hopkins Bloomberg Center. "We invite policymakers, members of the media, students, and the community to experience the film and engage in our thought-provoking, post-screening program."
Sig Libowitz, director of the Graduate Film and Media program, said, "Porcelain War confronts us unexpectedly with imagery, imagination, and a range of emotions as we consider our humanity and the purpose of art within the landscape of war. This is a story of artists who become soldiers and defenders of their nation's culture and heritage. The film's spirit is at the core of Stories that Matter."
Stories that Matter presents cinema at the intersection of art, scientific discovery, urgent social issues, and international affairs. The series is designed to cultivate robust public dialogue among filmmakers, scholars, students, government and policy stakeholders, and the public.
The series opened Feb. 21 with the BAFTA-nominated Netflix documentary Daughters.
The curated program in the Stories that Matter series spans U.S. and international cinema including narrative features, documentaries, and short films. Screenings take place in the 375-seat state-of-the-art theater at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center. The series provides filmmakers from the U.S. and around the world the opportunity to present international cinema to D.C. audiences, including stakeholders in the U.S. government, the international diplomatic community, and Johns Hopkins students and alumni, at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center, situated at the epicenter of the U.S. capital, with sweeping views of the Capitol building and the National Gallery of Art.
Post-screening conversations with attending directors, actors, producers, screenwriters, editors, cinematographers, music composers, and documentary participants will be moderated by academic faculty, including Libowitz and experts from across Johns Hopkins graduate programs, including the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Carey Business School, the School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Peabody Institute, and other academic departments as relevant to each film's subject matter.
Participating film directors are also invited to teach a master class to Johns Hopkins Film and Media program graduate students, providing filmmaking students with the opportunity to engage in dialogue with participating filmmakers about the artistic, cultural, and social significance of cinema in our changing world.
Certain films will also be presented at Johns Hopkins campuses in Baltimore, Maryland, and in Bologna, Italy.
Additionally, the Cineteca di Bologna is partnering with the Johns Hopkins AAP Graduate Film and Media program to present the Stories that Matter series at the 358-seat, historic and newly restored Cinema Modernissimo, in Bologna. Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe students and community members will be invited to attend and participate in all screenings at the Cinema Modernissimo alongside the Cineteca di Bologna audience.
Porcelain War is a Songbird Studios Production, in association with Imaginary Lane, Bob's Your Uncle, Far Star Media, Sobrato Philanthropies, and Cayton Goldrich Family Foundation. Produced by Paula DuPré Pesmen (producer of Oscar-winner "The Cove"), Aniela Sidorska, Camilla Mazzaferro, and Olivia Ahnemann. Porcelain War is distributed by Picturehouse.
Posted in Arts+Culture, Politics+Society
Tagged film, documentary
