The Last People of Chernobyl

This Academy Award-winning documentary takes a look at children born after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster who have been born with a deteriorated heart condition.

The story about Chornobyl area, all around the world we know of the disaster in 1986. The film may be called a guide to the Exclusion Zone. Thanks to the unique footage from the place of the tragedy, that the crew succeeded to capture, the viewers will have a chance for a full immersion into the atmosphere of the events and, along with the heroes of the film, feel the dreadful and amazing air that reigns where one of the major anthropogenic disasters took place.

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

Chernobyl – for most, an image of death and disaster, and for a few, still simply home. Even though it was the site of the greatest disaster in the history of nuclear power and resultant radioactive contamination, after only a few months some people began returning to the barbed wire-enclosed area. They did so illegally to live again in their humble cottages, passed down from generation to generation.

This documentary tells a story about people that to this day live in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Shows their daily struggles and lets them share their stories.

Olmany, Terebejov, Gorodnaïa: Three villages in the Stolyn district, Belarus, 200 kilometers from Chernobyl. In this area, the radiation rate was considered too low to justify the systematic evacuation of the population. Sixteen years after the disaster, life continues in a seemingly unchanged landscape. These farming communities face an invisible threat on a daily basis.

On April 26th, 1986, reactor four at Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes, sending an enormous radioactive cloud over Northern Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus. The danger is kept a secret from the rest of the world and the nearby population who go about their business as usual. May Day celebrations begin, children play and the residents of Pripyat marvel at the spectacular fire raging at the reactor. After three days, an area the size of England becomes contaminated with radioactive dust, creating a 'zone' of poisoned land. Based on Mario Petrucci's award-winning book-length poem (split over two books), 'Heavy Water: a film for Chernobyl', and the shorter version 'Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl", tells the story of the people who dealt with the disaster at ground-level: the fire-fighters, soldiers, 'liquidators', and their families.

What would happen if the world were suddenly without people - if humans vanished off the face of the earth? How would nature react - and how swiftly? On the edge of Europe, the deserted village of Chernobyl reveals the surprising answer after an unplanned experiment. Chernobyl was abandoned by people after the worst nuclear disaster in history (April 26, 1986). A level 7 meltdown resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive explosion that destroyed the reactor. More than 20 years later, Chernobyl has been taken over by a remarkable collection of wildlife and descendents of pets that were left in the city when its residents fled the nuclear fallout. Unexpectedly in the aftermath of this disaster, Chernobyl has become a sanctuary for plants, birds, and animals, including some species thought to be on the brink of extinction.

Military people call such places "FRONTLINE", liquidators who worked at the Chernobyl nuclear station called it "ROOF COATING". It was the most contaminated, and therefore the most dangerous, place in the zone. The remains of the roof coating of the 4th reactor. The operation on decontaminating the roof lasted more than five months. We will tell about only two days. About the most important two days in the life of an explorer - dosimetrist Valeriy Starodumov. He participated in this operation until it was over. He himself came out to the roof and led people there. He himself planted the "victory banner" at the level of 75 meters, as the signal for the zone: the roof coating has been decontaminated! Now, 25 years later, Valeriy Starodumov comes back to the zone. Now Chernobyl is a tourist object. But not for him...