Following the success of the Sky Atlantic/HBO series Chernobyl comes the powerful documentary The Real Chernobyl. The film introduces us to the real-life characters portrayed in the narrative series and provides their haunting first-person accounts.
On April 26, 1986, reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded. A large amount of hazardous radioactive material exploded and swept across the area, causing a mass evacuation of more than 100,000 citizens, a string of agonizing deaths and unpredictable health problems. The event is considered the worst nuclear accident in history, and Mikhail Gorbachev credits the disaster with the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.
One of the film’s main interview subjects is Sergei Parashin, the plant’s deputy director at the time of the explosion. It speaks in a sad, sober way to the helplessness and confusion of the days and weeks that followed this event. In his view, the flaws and design flaws were known to the physicists associated with the facility, but the staff on duty that night were too well-informed to handle the situation properly.
Other witnesses, from security personnel to truck drivers and ambulances, also shared their recollections. They tell of the determination of first responders who braved immediate and unseen threats. We see a helicopter pilot trying to protect his memory as he flies into the eye of a radioactive cloud. We hear from survivors of that terrible day and from those who have lost loved ones to related diseases in the decades that followed. Cameras pan across areas that exist today, including an eerie abandoned and crumbling children’s playground.
Through these interviews and extensive archived footage, we walk through each step of the crisis. The documentary is interspersed with clips from the hit series to provide a sense of context for those unfamiliar with this dark period in history.
The Real Chernobyl is a deeply and deeply personal account of one of history’s most horrific disasters.
Directed by: Lisa Laden
