Alessandro Tesei, Pierpaolo Mittica

THE ZONE – POST ATOMIC JOURNEY

Italy 2018 85’

THE ZONE – POST ATOMIC JOURNEY
There’s a new risky activity going on among Ukrainian youngsters: some of them in fact have recently started to illegally enter the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – in the centre of which there is the infamous Reactor 4 that exploded in 1986, making the area one of the most contaminated of the whole world. They are referred to as ” Stalkers” a name coming directly from Andrei Tarkovski’s film “Stalker”, a cult movie dated back in 1979 – and from a survival-horror videogame released in 2007 and set right into the Zone named S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Chernobyl’ Stalkers have developed a proper veneration for this specific area, which they consider it as a post-atomic private home. They are organized in paramilitary groups with names, symbols and rituals, while enjoying a dangerous trip to reach their final destination: the ghost town of Pripyat .

Alessandro Tesei
Italian documentary film director, he works on several projects related to nuclear pollution and social issues. His main video works: 2012: “Fukushame-The lost Japan”, full length documentary about Fukushima incident. 2013: “Fukushima no Daymio”, short documentary about Fukushima hero Masami Yoshikawa.2014: “Behind the Urals-The night mare before Chernobyl” full length documentary about the Kysthym nuclear incident.2015: “Toxic connection”, full length documentary about the pollution of the region o Chelyabinsk, in Russia.2017: “Burning bikinis”, full length documentary about the feminist movement in Malta.

Pierpaolo Mittica
One of the most famous Italian photo reporters. He covers dozens of environmental incidents around the world. “The Zone” is his first video documentary project.

6 /10 KINO KARAMAN 18:45