Anchored by a man whose quest humanizes global changes, this film traces the historical events and present situation of nuclear disaster across human society. Every nuclear site he revisits represents a specific temporality - Fukushima, Japan, as the ongoing present; Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, as the concealed past; Chernobyl, Ukraine, as the forever alienated present, and Onkalo, Finland, as the future of the future. The narrative created through deconstruction and reconstruction of histories provides a new space to reflect on nuclear issues. In this space, a panorama of global apocalyptic landscapes after nuclear disaster as well as the daily lives of humans on these land is brought to life. The film, visually futuristic yet close to cyberpunk science fiction, seeks to create a human allegory in the present.
Zhao Liang was born in Liaoning, China in 1971. He graduated from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. Based in Beijing since 1993, he has been working as an independent documentary filmmaker as well as an artist in photography and video art. His films BEHEMOTH (2015), PETITION (2009), CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (2007), TOGETHER (2011) and PAPER AIRPLANE (2001) have been selected and screened in Cannes, Venice, Berlin and other prestigious film festivals worldwide.
Zhao’s Image Production Limited
Arte France
Les Films d’Ici
Maria Shovkuta
Ivan Semenyuk
Chaliadzinskaya Ina
Chaliadzinskaya Lizaveta
Yoshimichi Matsumoto
Yoshiko Matsumoto
Mizue Mori (Noh)
Writer/Director: Zhao Liang
Producers: Zhao Liang, Serge Lalou, Valérie Guérin
Co-Producers: Ruby Chen, Jia Zhao
Narration Script: Zhao Liang, Sylvie Blum
Cinematographers: Zhao Liang, Sun Shaoguang
Editors: Fabrice Rouaud, Zhao Liang
Production designer: Yu Jiarui
Music: Mikael Plunian
Sound Design: Jeroen Goeijers
Closing Music: Benoit Guerroué
Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection