Heavy Water: A Film for Chernobyl
2007 · 52 min · ★ 6.0 · Documentary, Drama
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.
Directed by David Bickerstaff · Written by David Bickerstaff
Make it a double feature
2h 17m togetherBoth from David Bickerstaff.
More from David BickerstaffSee all →
John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger · 2024
Making War Horse · 2009
Caravaggio · 2025
Canaletto & the Art of Venice · 2017
Sunflowers · 2021
Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait · 2019
Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers · 2024
Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition · 2023
Girl with a Pearl Earring: And Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis · 2015
Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse · 2016
Michelangelo: Love and Death · 2017
Vincent Van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing · 2015
Pissarro: Father of Impressionism · 2022
Van Gogh & Japan · 2019
Turner & Constable · 2026
The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch · 2016More Like This
La Jetée · 1962
Be Kind Rewind · 2008
Holocaust 2000 · 1977
Madame Curie · 1943
Silkwood · 1983
Dreams · 1990
