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Seventh Art Productions presents

Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl

Directed by David Bickerstaff and Phil Grabsky
Poetry by Mario Petrucci
DVD available from Seventh Art Productions

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, Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl tells the story of the people who dealt with the disaster at ground-level: the fire-fighters, the soldiers, the 'liquidators', and their families.

Poetry read by David Bickerstaff, Francine Brody, Juliet Stevenson, David Threlfall and Samuel West.

> Click here to play an excerpt
> Click here for infomation on David Bickerstaff and Phil Grabsky
> Click here for infomation on Mario Petrucci

To buy Half Life by Mario Petrucci click here www.heaventreepress.co.uk. To buy the sister book, Heavy Water: a poem for Chernobyl by Mario Petrucci click here www.enitharmon.co.uk.

Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl will be showing at Documentary Fortnight, Museum of Modern Art, New York - 25th February 2007 at 18.15

Half Life: a Journey to Chernobyl has recently been selected for:
Ilkley Book Festival
Humber Mouth Literature Festival
IDA's 10th Annual DocuWeek™
Calgary International Film Festival
Cork Film Festival
Sheffield International Documentary Festival
Birmingham Book Festival at the Ikon Eastside