Photo courtesy of Serega Strange
“A vivid and compelling film… where a dose of adrenaline matters more than a dose of radiation.”–Beyond Nuclear International
“Stalking Chernobyl: Exploration After Apocalypse” (2020) is a fascinating documentary from Cultures of Resistance Films that offers a unique portal into the clandestine culture that has developed around the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone three decades after the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
In addition to the explosion of officially-sanctioned tours to what has become Ukraine’s top tourist destination, illegal hiking adventurers and urban explorers known as “stalkers”–along with extreme sports enthusiasts, disaster tourists, artists, and underground tour operators–enter “The Zone”. Many defy state prohibitions to dodge checkpoints and security guards in order to explore the mysterious and ghostly post-apocalyptic landscape.
Due to popular demand, the film will stay available online to watch for free, and a special online Q&A with scientists, activists, Chernobyl stalkers will take place on April 26th, International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. More information about the film can be found here.
Photo courtesy of Vlad Vozniuk.
WATCH THE MOVIE!
Following the global cancellation of large events and festivals during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Cultures of Resistance Films has world premiered “Stalking Chernobyl” online for free, which has seen over 10,000 views in its first week online. The 58-minute film is available on YouTube and on Vimeo.
Subtitles are available in English, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Azeri, Slovak, and Polish.
JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL Q&A EVENT ON APRIL 26
On Sunday, 26 April 2020 at 17:00 GMT (13:00 EDT), the UN-designated International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day, “Stalking Chernobyl” director Iara Lee will be hosting a live online Q&A session moderated by Jodie Evans, CODEPINK founder, with:
• Cindy Folkers, Radiation & Health Specialist from Beyond Nuclear International
• Sergii Mirnyi, scientist/tour operator from Chernobyl Tours
• Vitaly Servetnik from Friends of the Earth/Russian Socio-Ecological Union
• “Stalking Chernobyl” editor Dimo Petkov, cameraman Anton Fedorko, co-producer Oleg Shalashov
• Dominik Orfanus, Yurij Syrcek, and Igor Pasko from the Chernobyl Welcome Tour Company
• Vladislav Voznjuck from the stalker/tour group DiggTour
• Lucas Brunelle, extreme cyclist and creator of “Lucas Brunelle Goes To Chernobyl“
This live event is free but due to limited space, please register via Zoom here.
The discussion will also be livestreamed to Cultures of Resistance’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
MEDIA IMAGES
Please find high resolution photos here.
CHERNOBYL BACKGROUND
On the morning of 26 April 1986, following a nuclear chain reaction and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, 49,000 people were evacuated in two hours, mostly from the nearby town of Pripyat, with just a few belongings, unaware at the time that even their descendants would be able to return to their homes. The original 10km (6 mile) exclusion zone was later increased to a 30 kilometre (19 mile) radius from which a further 68,000 people were evacuated.
The eventual death toll was estimated to be 9,000-16,000 fatalities across the European continent. Nuclear clean-up of the Zone is not scheduled for completion until 2065. The only other nuclear accident in history approaching the scale of devastation seen at Chernobyl was the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, which displaced 154,000 residents.
For more information about the debate about nuclear energy, click here.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR/CULTURES OF RESISTANCE FILMS
Iara Lee, a Brazilian of Korean descent, is an activist, filmmaker, and founder/director of the Cultures of Resistance Network, an organization that promotes global solidarity and connects and supports agitators, educators, farmers, and artists to build a more just and peaceful world through creative resistance and nonviolent action. Cultures of Resistance Films creates and distribute documentaries that advance public awareness about issues of social and economic justice and showcase creative efforts to promote peace and protect human rights. “Stalking Chernobyl” is the eighth full-length documentary from Cultures of Resistance Films.
We are extremely grateful to all of the groups that have helped us move the premiere online! Below you will find the growing list of our amazing partners.
ALBANIA/Tirana: Aleanca për Mbrojtjen e Teatrit – zyrtare
ARGENTINA/Buenos Aires: FICiP Festival Internacional de Cine Político
ARGENTINA/Buenos Aires: FINCA Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental
AZERBAIJAN/Baku: Yarat! Contemporary Art Space
BELARUS/Minsk: WATCH DOCS Belarus
BELARUS/Minsk: Belarus Anti Nuclear Campaign
BOLIVIA/Sucre: Festival Internacional de Cine de los Derechos Humanos de Sucre
COLOMBIA/Bogota & Boyacá: Festival de Cine Independiente de Sogamoso
CROATIA/Zagreb: Documenta Zagreb
CYPRUS/Nicosia: Visual Voices
EGYPT/Cairo: El Sawy Culturewheel – Sakia
FRANCE/Cannes: Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes
GERMANY/Berlin: filmArche
GERMANY/Berlin: Berlin Documentary Film Club
GREECE/Athens: Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People
INDIA/Auroville: Auroville Art Service
INDIA/Auroville: Kriti Film Club
IRAN/Tehran: Cinema Vérité ; Iran International Documentary Film Festival
ITALY/Milan: Sguardi Altrove Film Festival
ITALY/Tricase: Salento International Film Festival
MALAWI/Limbe: Malawi University Of Science and Technology
MALAYSIA/George Town: Gerakbudaya Bookshop – Penang
MEXICO/Mexico City: Panorámica, Muestra Internacional de Cine Independiente
MEXICO/Mexico City: Casa Negra / Cine
MYANMAR/Yangon: Myanmar Deitta
PERU/Lima: Festival Sembrando
PORTUGAL/Viseu: ART&TUR – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FILM FESTIVAL
ROMANIA/Bucharest: Black Sea Arts Festival în București
RUSSIA/Moscow: Russian Socio-Ecological Union
SAUDI ARABIA/Jeddah: Hejaz Ploggers
SPAIN/Bilbao: Festival Internacional de Cine Invisible Film Sozialak Bilbao
SPAIN/Girona: Girona Film Festival
SPAIN/Ibiza: Ibizacinefest
SPAIN/Madrid: Ecologistas en Accion – Movimiento Ibérico Antinuclear
SPAIN/Valencia: Humans Fest. Festival Internacional Cine y Derechos Humanos Valencia
TURKEY/Istanbul: Yeşil Düşünce Derneği
TURKEY/Istanbul: Nukleersiz (Nuclear-free)
UK/Brighton: Brighton Rocks Film Festival
UKRAINE: Amnesty International Ukraine
UKRAINE/Chernobyl: CHERNOBYLwel.come
UKRAINE/Kyiv: Congress of Сultural Activists
UKRAINE/Kyiv: IZONE
UKRAINE/Lviv: Lviv Travel Club
USA/Bloomington, IN: Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University
USA/Columbus, OH: Center for Slavic and East European Studies, OSU
USA/Lawrence, KS: KU Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
USA/Lawrence, KS: Films for Action
USA/Los Angeles, CA: CODEPINK: Women For Peace
USA/Takoma Park, MD: Beyond Nuclear
USA/Washington, DC: Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES)
USA/Washington, DC: Electric Cowbell
USA/Washington, DC: Multiflora Productions
USA/Washington, DC: Suns Cinema
ZAMBIA/Lusaka: Alliance Française de Lusaka