A documentary film about the construction of the first atomic power station in Ukraine – Chornobyl. The alternative title of the film “From the First Stake” references the first steps of the massive construction operation and the early stages of the public gaining knowledge about the nature of atomic energy. In the film, schoolchildren, public servants and inhabitants of villages of the Chornobyl region try to answer the question “What is the atom?” Their naïve and unsure answers illustrate the vague but decidedly trusting perception of the atomic phenomena. In Soviet cinema of the 1970s, the “production of drama” is popular, a genre in which factory or office routines are presented in a romantic light. The film uses all of these new aesthetic trends in a documentary approach. The ambitious construction plans of the power station are shown through a number of personal stories, one of them is about an engineer’s dream of a river port in the atomohrad, and river shuttles which will travel from Pripiat to Kyiv.
A new city rises next to the Chornobyl power station – Pripiat. “Morning of the Atomohrad” depicts the daily routine of construction as a grand and clockwork process – the birth of a new world to the tune of symphonic music. The typical modern hero character, a “creative type” that sees his work as one of the most wonderful occupations, appears in this film for the first time in the image of the construction worker, Dima Bobrykyi. His working companions are the welders of the highest rank, two Korol couples. Happily posing in front of the camera, the couple confess that they receive “true pleasure” from their line of work. Despite the absence of a drop of sincerity or a crumb of social criticism, this film is interesting not only for its demonstration of the social realism canon of Soviet documentary film of the 1970s, but also for its scenes of the nuclear station in the progress of being built. The film’s soundtrack includes “The Lark” composed by Ariel Ramirez, which became widely known the same year due its becoming the theme song of the popular zoological television show “In the World of the Animals”. “The Lark” became a landmark musical theme for the Soviet era.
This film is about construction workers who are building a nuclear power station. Some of them have traded their prestigious engineer professions for worker ones, and as they embark on their new activities, they wonder about the possibilities of harnessing the atom. Director Volodymyr Heorhiienko and the collective “Ukrtelefilm” studio created a number of films about the construction of the Chornobyl NPS in the 1970s, including the first installment “Morning of the Atomohrad” (1974) and the follow-up films “Light Up Your Sun” (1976) and “Chain Reaction” (1978). The labour efforts of people were always in the focus of these ideologically-correct reportage films, the pathos of which was depicted by Heorhiienko with exceptional talent. In “Light Up Your Sun”, the romantic view of labor is presented in the example of members of the komsomol, who had arrived from a multitude of Soviet republics to build the Chornobyl NPS. To add a sense of greatness to their efforts, the film references the Soviet literary idol Pavka Korchagin, who “not far from these places built the narrow-gauge railway”.
A film dedicated to the life of the “young atomohrad” Pripiat, directly after operations began at the Chornobyl station in December 1977. This work is a triumphant overview of the results of the journey from the beginning of the power station’s construction to its successful outcome. The builders and witnesses of the station’s creation reminisce on the years of construction, which became a “school of life” for those involved. Doctors talk about the excellent ecological state of the environment near the station, youths ski in the nearby snowy woods. The “big happy family of the atomohrad” celebrate the New Year. Even in winter, these scenes are depicted in bright, saturated colors, with gentle reminders of the invisible work of the Atom, illustrated with glittering diagrammes, sensors and monitors of the station, all details emphasizing the joyful existence within the Atomohrad.
It’s the 1st of September, a sunny and joyful day in Pripiat. Children are going to school and the builders, engineers and supervisors of yesterday are sharing their thoughts about the future of the city and the newly built power station. Mr. Kizima, head of construction at Chornobyl, speaks about the city planning process and Mr. Voloshko, head of the city executive committee, speaks about the creation of recreational areas for workers. The main architect, Mr. Oleshko, talks about the construction of the local swimming pool and the head doctor, Mr. Leonenko, gives an ironic overview of the problems of high birth rates in the Atomohrad. Set only a few years before the beginning of perestroika and the accident at Chornobyl station, the hypnotic optimism of managers of different ranks reinforces the uncritical assessment of the station’s function and with it, the soviet system itself. Despite this, “Belonging” is the most encompassing urban documentary film in regards to Pripiat builder’s perceptions of the Chornobyl station before the terrible disaster.
One of the first films shot after the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear station. Shooting began on the 24th of May, 1986, the same day when Mikhail Gorbachov’s speech (which is included in the film) aired on the central TV channels of the USSR. This appearance was the first official remark of the general secretary on the subject, made more than two weeks after the event itself. In this work, the invisible nature of radiation is underlined, while its “voice” is the main expression. The shooting equipment suffered constant failures, evidenced by the tell-tale spots imprinted on the film roll. This movie captured how key decisions on the elimination of the consequences of the accident were made – the construction of the sarcophagus for “eternal burial”, the introduction of liquid nitrogen into the burning reactor and evacuation of dwellers from contaminated areas, among others. Shooting was conducted in various locations – from the offices of bureaucrats to meeting halls to “hot spots”. The director and cinematographer, against the warnings of nuclear scientists, filmed from the neighboring roof to the epicenter of events – the third energy block of the reactor. After the end of filming, the whole shooting group was diagnosed to have received doses of radiation several times the norm and a part of them were immediately hospitalized. The director of the film, Volodymyr Shevchenko died from excessive radiation in March of the next year. Despite the beginning of perestroika and a proclaimed “glasnost” policy, the film was not cleared for release until February of 1987. The film, created following the fresh marks of the catastrophe, became the beginning of the public coming to terms with the traumatic experience of the catastrophe, and formed the main approaches to representation of the tragedy.
The film is dedicated to the participation of military personnel in the liquidation efforts at the Chornobyl power station. The bravery of these individuals is captured not only in scenes at the “frontline” at the station, but also in “behind the scenes” episodes, showing the efforts of those who helped by baking bread and providing sustenance for the liquidators. Numerous parallels to the Second World War (the road to Chornobyl/the frontline road, the liquidators/war heroes) are stressed by the leading song in the film by famous Soviet bard, Vladimir Vysotskiy. Bread in the film is not just food, but a symbol which expresses the theme of overripe wheat, referencing the situation when a farmer goes to war, leaving his land. The smiling military bakers, coming from all the different republics of the Soviet Union, realize the idea of a common goal with calm and confidence. Against the background of panic in society, these individuals are shown as the dependable link in the great chain of general mobilization that was carried out in response to the accident. The director of the film, Oleksandr Kosinov, at the time of shooting was already a famous and honored filmmaker of the USSR – his films had won awards at festivals in Armenia, Finland, Germany and Vietnam.
Two years after the accident at the Chornobyl station, people visit their old homes in the contaminated zone, but their allocated time for memorial services is brief – only a few hours. In the villages, the visitors meet “self-settlers” – mostly elderly people who illegally returned to live in the “zone” and reportedly feel no worse than their guests. The settlers organize improvised festivities with the optimistic belief that people will return to their homes and the abandoned land will be bountiful once more. The film easily combines the canonic 9th of May demonstration, local memorial traditions and criticism of the “glasnost” era government. Murat Mamedov once more gives voice to elderly women, as in his 1987 film “Early on Sunday”, which won numerous awards. The expressive monologues and cinematic portraits of his subjects are edited and presented utterly without director commentary.
The film was made after the Chornobyl nuclear accident, which immediately became not only an environmental but also a geopolitical event of the same significance as the Berlin Wall demolition. Chornobyl became a symbol of the inefficiency of Soviet socialist rule and perhaps even a catalyst of the crisis of the Soviet system, thus it launched social and political transformations in the region. It also became a key element in the legitimization of Ukraine’s independence and had significant influence on the formation of the independent state. Soviet policies were aimed at concealing or distorting even minimal information about the accident. In such circumstances, the Pathos of the search for truth becomes crucial for the Chornobyl discourse. On one hand, “Mi-cro-phone!”, released two years after the accident, is a classic perestroika movie focusing on the search for truth hidden by the Soviet regime. The film is a good metaphor of perestroika, democratization of the media and glasnost phenomena, when seemingly every Soviet citizen had acquired the right to speak for himself. On the other hand, the film avoids the epic dimension typical for many Chornobyl films and functions rather on the micro level. This shift to micro-history is reflected already in the film’s title: “Micro (radiation) and Phone (meaning “background” in Ukrainian)” – pointing to small doses of radiation. This close attention to details allowed Shkliarevskyi to create a dramatic and sincere film, which ultimately received several international awards, such as the International Federation of Film Critics Award, Oberhausen (1989); Grand Prize at Freiburg Film Festival (1990).
Kyiv, 1989. A demonstration dedicated to the anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy is happening at the “Dynamo” stadium – all the seats are filled, the words “Chornobyl, Prypiat, a warning” are visible on the scoreboard. People took to the streets in search of truth because years after the tragedy, there was still no comprehension or public awareness of the real dangers of radiation, and a general feeling that no one from the government had been punished for the accident or for carrying on with the 1st of May demonstration held in Kyiv in the first days of the tragedy. Director Heorhii Shkliarevskyi, a representative of the critical documentary film movement of the 1980s, created his film around the monologues of the heroic liquidators, former dwellers of the exclusion zone and concerned Kyivites. An additional hero of the film is the microphone – a symbol of awakened democracy in the late Soviet period.
5 years after the Chornobyl tragedy, the film’s crew of “Ukrkinokhronika” studio visits scientific and medical institutions located within a 30 kilometer radius from the Chornobyl station. The authors of the film speak with researchers who study the effects of radiation on live organisms. Photographs that depict the effect of “radioactive ash” are shown to the viewers – plants with anomalous development, the bodies of animals and humans with disturbing birth defects. Interviews with the scientists are mixed with aerial post-apocalyptical footage of silent cities, dark windows of abandoned buildings, deserted military equipment. The only place where life continues in the same rhythm is the church. Bells and songs sound as before, along with the crackle of the Geiger counter, drawing attention to that which is invisible to the eye. The film is shot in 1991, a decisive year in which patriotic exaltation and a desire to part ways with the USSR were the dominant moods. It becomes evident that it is impossible to say goodbye to some things from the past.
A film about the amateur photographer Ihor Kostin starts out in his apartment where he is giving an interview to his documentary filmmaking friends. Kostin began to shoot in the Chornobyl zone almost immediately after the accident. Two hours after the explosion, he was the first to photograph the destroyed reactor and ruptured concrete shield (nicknamed “Elena” by the liquidators) from a helicopter. Kostin was also one of the so-called “bio-robots” that cleaned the roof of the third energy block from radioactive wreckage. His Chornobyl series became the first testimony of the aftermath of the disaster to be further showcased in prominent publications around the world and ultimately received World Press Photo awards. The photo album which Kostin showed to his interviewers in the film would be published only in 2002 under the title “Chornobyl: confession of a reporter”. Glimpsing into the life and work of Ihor Kostin, the film demonstrates the scale of the tragedy and also personifies it. The “zone” in the film is something disturbing and dangerous, but also familiar and exciting.
A film about the impact of low doses of radiation, told through the visit of members of the youth organization “Next Stop” to the abandoned city of Prypiat. Dozens of hippies from Sweden, France, Japan and other countries arrive at the Chornobyl station after their boycott of a nuclear testing site in Nevada. The foreign youths are greeted by the local elderly self-settlers, who by force of habit continue to sell mushrooms along the road. Covering their bodies in paint, the visitors head to the fourth reactor to enact an anti-nuclear performance. The films begins with scenes of how tombstones are created, and ends with shots of a cemetery, although the overall narrative tone of the film is not tragic, but educative. “The Death Cloud of Chornobyl”, with its Pink Floyd-esque soundtrack, is also unique among other Chornobyl films for expanding the traditional political or eschatological aspects of the tragedy and bringing in a global ecological worldview and conclusion.
Two years after the Chornobyl nuclear accident, former dwellers of Prypiat, members of the literary club “Prometheus”, liquidators and doctors come together to remember the aftermath of the tragedy. Personal stories of loss are shared, along with careful but determined criticism of the government. Proclamations are made from tribunes at memorial services, songs of the post-Chornobyl folklore genre are performed, medical diagnoses of the liquidators are dryly shared. “This kind of accident could only happen in the USSR” – is a resume given by Volodymyr Shovkovshytnyi, a former engineer of the Chornobyl NPS and an amateur bard. The film includes not only emotional first-person storytelling by traumatized liquidators or angry evacuees, but also a large amount of documentary shots of abandoned Prypiat. Before making this film, director Rollan Serhienko had already created more than a dozen films of varying genres, from works in the “Ukrainian poetic” genre such as “Open Yourself” (1972) to canonical popular science films on themes such as the writer Oles Honchar and the phenomena of rhythm. “Threshold” is the second and most expressive installment of his Chornobyl film series, which was originally planned as a trilogy, but expanded to eight films total with the participation of filmmakers from Ukraine, Russia and Japan. This is a desperate cinematic documentation of the first years of formation of the post-apocalypse post-Chornobyl mentality.