RUSSIAN WOODPECKER, The

THE RUSSIAN WOODPECKER

Director Chad Gracia / 2015 / UK,Ukraine,USA

"A rollicking ride of masterly narrative construction." – The Guardian

What really happened at Chernobyl in 1986? Ukrainian artist Fedor Alexandrovich was there when the nuclear power plant famously melted down, and says he knows the truth. But is he a madman or a prophet? What sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theory soon becomes chillingly plausible as we follow Alexandrovich into the ruins of the disaster.

Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Documentary Prize at Sundance, Chad Gracia's debut film is a remarkable and mysterious look at the USSR of the past and the Russia of the present. His central figure is a wild-haired character straight out of Dostoyevsky, who not only reveals some potentially explosive truths about why the meltdown may have been initiated, but also what the world may soon look like under Vladimir Putin.

"Surprisingly, richly enjoyable … deftly cramming in a terrific amount of history, breaking news, personal drama, culture and context." – Variety

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