12 April, 2016 - 06:30
With South Africa currently debating a deal with Russia to build nuclear power plants, the multi-award-winning Al Jazeera English documentary The Babushkas of Chernobyl is a timely reminder of the stakes involved.
April 2016 marks 30 years since the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor No. 4 exploded. The resulting fire lasted 10 days, releasing 400 times as much radiation as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Hundreds of thousands of residents were forcibly evacuated and a 2600 square kilometer radioactive Exclusion Zone was declared uninhabitable. Evacuees were told they could never return.
The Babushkas of Chernobyl is the story of three unlikely heroines - Hanna, Maria and Valentya - old women who ignore government orders and health warnings to illegally return to their homes. Reclaimed by nature over the last 30 years, The Exclusion Zone is now a hauntingly beautiful but still lethal post-apocalyptic landscape. In the radioactive Exclusion Zone, the babushkas form part of a defiant community of around 100 women scratching out an existence on some of the most toxic land on Earth. Authorities turn a blind eye to them, probably because they're in as much danger from old age as from radiation.
Winner of four international awards, The Babushkas of Chernobyl is a remarkable tale about the pull of home and the subjective nature of risk. As one Chernobyl medical technician says, There was a study that calculated the mortality of those who left versus those who stayed. It showed that evacuees died younger than those who stayed. Quite simply, people die from anguish This doesn't mean radiation isn't dangerous. But it does show that socio-psychological factors also greatly influence health.
The Babushkas of Chernobyl premieres on 20 April 2016 at 2000 GMT / 2200 SAST on Witness, Al Jazeera English's inspiring documentary series that brings world issues into focus through compelling human stories.
For more information, visit http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/.
What critics are saying:
A haunting and provocative movie, powerful and poignant and, frankly, unforgettable... Chicago Tribune
A haunting and strangely uplifting documentary There may be no tougher people on the planet. The Hollywood Reporter
A testimony of love, compassion and solidarity. Huffington Post
Potent, immersive. Indiewire
You're not going to see many documentaries like The Babushkas of Chernobyl Will stick with you for a long time. Los Angeles Daily News
A beautiful film... Captures the subtleties and uncertainties of Chernobyl and, moreover, the resilience of the human soul. The New York Times
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