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About the Film

Mother of Chernobyl is a Russian-language narrative film that was produced at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the spring of 2019 as a part of the GreenScreen course, which is an environmental media production course that aims to expand the ways environmental issues are represented in media. Mother of Chernobyl was selected by the members of the class as one of the 4 out of 16 films pitched to be produced over the 10-week quarter. It was written and directed by ALexander Shuryepov, and produced by Mitchka Saberi.

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Pre-production occurred over a couple of busy weeks at the end of April, during which the crew worked tirelessly to hire professional Russian-speaking actors from Los Angeles, build sets and gather props that were authentic to 1980s Ukraine, and schedule the shoot for a 22-page script that was to be shot over only three weekends. Principal photography began in early May, and took place over the next four weeks.

 

On June 14, Mother of Chernobyl premiered at UC Santa Barbara’s Pollock Theater where it was received with great enthusiasm.

Director's Statement

Keith Gessen’s preface in the collection of memoirs “Voices from Chernobyl” stated that ‘it was an accident that produced, in a way, more survivors than victims.’ This film is about those survivors. My goal for “Mother of Chernobyl” is not to capture why the disaster happened or how it happened; my goal is to capture the emotions of the people affected by the disaster. 

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My mother and grandmother were both in Kiev during the time of the disaster; I grew up hearing them recount their side of the story. As I grew up, I heard more stories of people affected by the radiation and the overall tragedy that took place in Pripyat. It was a historically devastating event that, I feel, needs more emphasis on the humans that survived.

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When I told my grandmother I was writing and directing this film, she told me how important it is to share this perspective with the rest of the world. That has pushed me forward to ensure this film captures exactly what I want: honest tragedy.

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- Alexander Shuryepov, April 2019

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