Directors and Production: Terra Project Photographers

Italy, 2010, 10 min, Italian with English subtitles

A series of interviews of four Italian veterans affected by the Balkan syndrome and landscape images from Bosnia and Kosovo, where NATO used tons of depleted uranium weapons during the 1995 and 1999 Balkan wars. A series of landscape images from Bosnia and Kosovo, selected on the basis of the areas bombed by the NATO during the 1995 and 1999 Balkan wars, and by following the narration of four Italian veterans affected by the Balkan syndrome who have visited those places.

Since the 1970s depleted uranium has been used to enrich ordinary weapons, making them more explosive and dangerous. Since then, these ammunitions have been used in the most important conflicts. The downside of this story are the effects on human health and environmental contamination. Although the UN had recognized DU weapons as "highly toxic and responsible for irreversible danger to humans and the environment", US and other armies still utilize them. It is thought that between 17 and 20 countries have depleted uranium weapons in their arsenals. However, only the US and the UK have acknowledged using DU weapons, and both the Army and the Government claim that depleted uranium weapons are safe. This is in contradiction to the several studies carried out by independent institutions, which showed how upon explosion, depleted uranium sublimates the metal of the hit target into minute particles. These nanoparticles, once in contact with a living organism, can easily penetrate tissues or lungs, and remain in the body. And cause several forms of cancers, the so called "Balkan syndrome".