For my last event, I watched the online film Stalking Chernobyl: Exploration After Apocalypse, as well as watched a Q&A with the filmmaker, Iara Lee, and other contributors and speakers. The film examines the Chernobyl disaster that took place in Pripyat, Ukraine in 1986. It contains many interviews with people who were alive during the disaster, as well as others who are known as Chernobyl stalkers. These stalkers sneak into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which is also known as the Dead Zone, which is extremely radioactive. They also avoid any guards around the zone, as sneaking into this zone is illegal.
Lee also describes how Pripyat has changed since the disaster and its current state. Today, Pripyat is a ghost town; however, animals and vegetation have started to come back to the area. The wildlife in this area also poses a threat to the Chernobyl stalkers, since the stalkers must get through the forests surrounding the area before they can enter the Dead Zone.
During the Q&A, some of the speakers discussed their experiences with Chernobyl and the Dead Zone. Lee talked about why she was interested in the topic of the Chernobyl disaster, what the intent of the film was, and the state of the site today.
While I had heard of the Chernobyl disaster, I did not know the intricacies of the event and its impact on Ukrainian and USSR society and politics. The film and discussion were very eye-opening and gave me a deeper understanding of the disaster itself and its effects.